WATCH: Park Rangers Plow Through Environmental Protestors Blocking Road to Burning Man

Shocking footage from Nevada shows captured a recent incident where park rangers came down hard on environmental protesters blockading the road to Burning Man.

The protest was reportedly organized by Seven Circles, a coalition of anti-capitalist climate activists who were railing against private jets, single-use plastics and the growing elitism and carbon footprint surrounding Burning Man. The group set up their roadblock with several protesters chaining themselves to a trailer in the middle of the road while others bore signs saying “BURNERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE!,” and “GENERAL STRIKE FOR CLIMATE.”

“The blockade is also in protest against the popularization of Burning Man among affluent people who do not live the stated values of Burning Man, resulting in the commodification of the event,” The group said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. “The group emphasizes the current existential crisis and importance of honesty when social collapse is at risk.”

Tensions escalated between festival-goers and protesters as the blockade caused a traffic jam that backed up the road for miles. The Guardian reports that the protesters also came into conflict with members of the Paiute Tribe who told them they weren’t allowed to protest on their lands.

Eventually, a white pickup truck belonging to the Pyramid Lake Paiute tribal police department pulled up and ordered the protesters off the road under threat of arrest. This eventually led to another pickup ramming the barricade, destroying the signs and shoving over the trailer while protesters were still attached to it.

“I’m gonna take all of you out! You better move,” an officer was heard saying over the truck’s PA. An officer then got out with his gun drawn and ordered the protesters to get on the ground.

“We’re non-violent,” Emily Collins, co-founder of Rave Revolution, repeatedly cried out. “We have no weapons at all! We’re environmental protesters.”

Videos from the scene show that several of the protesters were arrested and loaded onto the pickup. The online traction of the incident comes as environmental protests have gone viral in recent months when demonstrators have engaged in vandalism and acts of disruption to advance their cause.

[H/T @MichelleLhooq]

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