The Nevada tribal reservation ranger who rammed his truck through a blockade and pulled a weapon on unarmed demonstrators outside the Burning Man festival Sunday was “under review” by officials after climate protestors accused him of using excessive force.
The incident happened on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe reservation, where a handful of activists from the Seven Circles Alliance coalition staged an anti-climate change and anti-capitalist protest, blocking State Route 447, which led to the nine-day desert festival as it got underway.
As traffic backed up on the sole route into the makeshift Black Rock City, frustrated festival-goers got out of their vehicles and tried to take apart the blockade so traffic could get through, the footage shows.
Several tribal ranger trucks then arrived, one of them ramming through the trailer blockade, even as a protestor had chained herself to it.
“I’m going to take all of you out — you better move,” the ranger warned from his vehicle’s public address system.
A ranger then got out of his vehicle and drew what appeared to be a gun from his holster.
“Get down now! All of you on the ground now!” he commanded, as he pointed his weapon at the protestors, ignoring the shrieks of the woman wearing chains who had insisted, “We’re not violent!”
As the ranger forced a female protestor to the ground and forcefully handcuffed her, another ranger demanded that the protesters surrender their purported arms.
“Please… we have no weapons at all, we are environmental protesters!” the woman wearing chains pleaded on the side of the highway.
Tribal Chairman James L. Phoenix lamented the behavior of the protestors, even as he released a statement saying, “the involved Ranger’s conduct is under review.”
“It was just unfortunate that they would block the main highway like that,” Phoenix told Indianz.Com.
“It’s not like, you know, you’re just out in the middle of nowhere and there’s no one else to be there,” he reportedly said.
“We have a lot of miles and miles of cars. If you learn more about Burning Man, you’ll see how busy it is.”
The release noted that of the five unidentified activists who were cited and released, two of them hailed from New York.
The protestors brandished signs reading things like “Burners of the World, Unite,” “Abolish Capitalism” and “General Strike for Climate.”
They claimed that the annual arts and counter-culture festival is not doing enough to counter climate change, and said its apolitical stance is “detrimental to its claimed values.”
Each year tens of thousands descend on the annual festival, which started as a solstice bonfire but has transformed into a large-scale capitalist tech celebration that can cost up to $2,750 to attend.
Seven Circles Alliance activists released a statement Tuesday accusing a disgruntled motorist of falsely telling law enforcement that the group was armed, according to NBC News.
“The excessive response is a snapshot of the institutional violence and police brutality that is being shown to anyone who is actively working to bring about systemic change within the United States, including the climate movement,” their statement reportedly read.
“The right to protest and civil disobedience actions in the United States are a keystone of democracy. The use of excessive force and the criminalization of peaceful protesters serve to maintain the status quo for those in power.”