Youth climate activists harassed, arrested during sit-in at Trump campaign office

A peaceful sit-in at a Trump campaign office in north Phoenix Monday quickly devolved into chaos, as staffers verbally and physically assaulted protesters before having them arrested on charges of trespassing.

Five volunteers from the youth climate group Sunrise Movement walked into the nearly empty campaign office and delivered a fake check for $1 billion and $1 to a pair of stunned staffers. Surprise quickly turned to rage as the group sat near the entrance and sang songs about Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s subservience to the oil and gas industry. Between songs, they took turns sharing how the climate crisis had personally affected their lives.

Adah Crandall, an 18-year-old on-site observer for Sunrise Movement, said the protesters hoped to warn the public that a second Trump term could stall—and, by his own words, reverse—advances taken under the Biden-Harris administration to reverse the effects of climate change. The amount of the check, she said, was a direct response to Trump’s promise to oil executives in May that if they would donate $1 billion to his campaign, he would reverse President Joe Biden’s climate initiatives and block any regulation or additional taxes on the oil and gas industry.

“A group of five of my friends was arrested for sitting in at the campaign office, calling out Trump’s ties to Big Oil and calling out the fact that he works for billionaires, not for everyday people like us,” Crandall told The Copper Courier. “We think it’s really important to show the public—and voters—that Trump himself is a billionaire and that he is being sold to billionaires. At the end of the day, he is going to let people in Phoenix die in heat waves.”

The message was not well-received by its immediate audience. One woman employed by the Trump campaign, who declined to comment for the story, repeatedly called the protestors “stupid,” told them she hoped they would never have children, threw items at them, shoved Crandall, and forcibly struggled to take the phones of Crandall and another observer who were filming the incident.

@coppercourier 🚨BREAKING: Five climate activists from @sunrisemvmt were arrested during a sit-in at Trump’s campaign office in north Phoenix. Staff shoved, yelled at, and slapped down the phones of protestors. Press onsite were also threatened with arrest. Protesters were taken to 4th Ave. jail on class three misdemeanor charges for trespassing. #republicans #gop #climateaction #trumpsupporters #climateactivists #arizona #arizonastate #everythingarizona #azpol #fyp #arizonacheck #arizonapolitics #sunrisemovement #phxaz #px #trump @Sunrise Movement @sunrisemvmtphx ♬ original sound – Copper Courier

The staffer also inexplicably brought up a false claim made repeatedly by Trump that non-conservative women want doctors to administer abortions after birth, which is medically impossible. The accusation appears to conflate women’s healthcare with infanticide, which is illegal.

“Get your ass outta here,” the woman yelled. “What’s wrong with you? You believe in—in full-term abortions, is that what it is? I work in this—in my office, so get your butt outta here now.”

The three other staffers in the building declined to comment for this story. They declined to stop their colleague from assaulting the protestors or de-escalate the situation in any way. Instead, the individual who appeared to be in charge informed the group that he had called the police, then placed a large speaker next to them and played country music at full blast.

Throughout the protest, a handful of people stopped by the office to collect campaign materials. They, too, took a moment to yell at the youth group, with one telling them that, while he thought abortions should be banned, he wished their parents had aborted them.

The sit-in lasted less than an hour. Seven patrol cars arrived on the scene to arrest the five sitting in, who were taken to the Maricopa County Jail on 4th Avenue and Jefferson and booked on charges of trespassing. They were released after 30 hours, and have set up a fundraiser to assist in covering legal fees.

The arrested individuals—Nate Scofield, 20, Amanda Thompson, 20, Riya Kumar, 21, Nick Koeing, 25, and J.M., 27—were released without bail and have an initial court hearing scheduled for November 18.

Crandall said the reaction from the Trump campaign, jail time, and potential criminal record has left them undeterred. Sunrise Movement Phoenix plans to hold an information session for voters on September 28, where they plan to go over items on the November ballot through the lens of climate action.

“People are dying on the streets from heatstroke, and meanwhile, we have a candidate campaigning in this state that actively wants to undo every kind of victory that we’ve had,” said Crandall. “Black and Brown people, poor and working-class people—the same people that Trump says that he is a champion of, he’s actively letting die in climate disasters.”

 

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