On the Fourth of July, climate change demonstrators from the Washington, DC, region stopped multiple lanes of a Maryland roadway, which resulted in the detention of at least 14 people for resisting arrest and other violations.
At 12:30 pm, a group of protestors sat down and shut down all lanes of the inner loop of I-495 in Montgomery County, Maryland, close to Exit 30 for Colesville Road/US Route 29.
The beltway was contacted by troopers from the Rockville Barrack of the Maryland State Police, who issued orders for the throng to disperse and relocate to the shoulder. Those who disobeyed were liable to arrest, according to the police.
According to the police, 13 demonstrators were detained on a number of offenses, including resisting arrest, impeded passage, and disrupting the peace.
Traffic Advisory – IL I495 beltway near Colesville Road @MDSHA @MDSP @MontgomeryCoMD @MCDOTNow police activity, some lanes blocked https://t.co/LPqkFpz05D pic.twitter.com/FN6Xx2JdOz
— Pete Piringer (@mcfrsPIO) July 4, 2022
Charges of second-degree assault and resisting arrest were also brought against at least one counter-protester.
By around 1:45 pm, all lanes of traffic had been reopened, according to the police.
The protest was organized by the group “Declare Emergency” which also demanded that President Joe Biden proclaim an urgent proclamation of a national climate emergency.
A total of thirteen regular citizens were detained today while engaging in nonviolent civil resistance and sounding the alarm about the climate crisis, according to the statement. “Today, there were almost two dozen Declare Emergency campaign supporters on the road, coming from as far away as Oregon, Washington and Florida to make their voices heard here in DC/MD/VA area. A total of thirteen ordinary citizens have been arrested today while acting in nonviolent civil resistance, raising the alarm on the climate crisis,” it said.
According to the statement, “Declare Emergency” UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres claimed that while climate activists are portrayed as dangerous radicals, the actual hazardous radicals are the nations that are stepping up their fossil fuel output.
