Angry drivers rage at climate demonstrators blocking Washington DC traffic: ‘F-ck out of here!’
Outraged drivers in Washington, DC, were videotaped cursing out climate activists and tossing their signs during a protest that blocked traffic on a busy highway over the weekend.
Saturday’s climate-change protest was the third such rally staged by the group in the country’s capital within a week.
“I want to go to work! I want to go to work!” a driver was heard yelling as he stormed among the protesters sitting across the road, ripping banners from their hands and tossing them in the air as he went.
A screaming female motorist added, “You don’t give a f–k!
“Get the f–k out of here! We have to go to f–king work! We’ve got kids to feed!”
Other drivers tried to reason with the protesters, who merely responded that extreme measures needed to be taken to save the planet for future generations.
Police eventually arrived and warned the demonstrators to leave the highway before arresting all of them with zip-tie handcuffs.
The protest was staged by the group Declare Emergency, which seeks to “disrupt the status quo” until President Biden issues a state of climate emergency and takes drastic measures to address climate change, according to its website.
“For us, this was a great way to honor the legacy of Dr. King and to carry on his tradition of disruptive, nonviolent civil disobedience!” the group wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, along with footage from the incident.
It was the third such protest from Declare Emergency to wreak havoc on DC thoroughfares in the past week — each of which appeared to involve the same protesters, despite their repeated arrests.
On Wednesday, activists clad in neon safety vests descended on Interstate 395 in DC and sat across all three lanes carrying banners.
One driver managed force her way through by shoving protesters aside while grumbling “Y’all holding me up. I got a godd–n job and s–t,” while other motorists pleaded with them that there may be people facing emergencies trapped in the traffic.
That hold-up lasted nearly an hour as police dealt with a man who’d glued his hand to the pavement. The protesters were again arrested, footage showed.
Several days earlier, during last Monday morning’s rush hour, many of the same individuals sat down across a sidewalk in downtown DC.
“I get being upset, but rationally, just take a picture and send it to your boss,” a protester said with a laugh to another as angry commuters shouted that they had to get to work.
“Yeah. I am my own boss, so I’d have to send it to myself,” the other demonstrator said.
The protestors were arrested again at the time.
Metropolitan Police did not respond to Post requests for comment Tuesday.
The incidents are the latest such protests — which are not uncommon across Europe — to make headlines in the United States.
Protesters at the entrance of the Burning Man festival in Nevada on Sunday caused a miles-long back up after they barricaded the road into the event.
Police eventually rammed through the blockade with their trucks before arresting the demonstrators at gunpoint.