Earth Day Trump Tower Blockade
April 22, 2026
ACTIVISTS DEMAND TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TELL THE TRUTH
ON EARTH DAY
NEW YORK, NY — This afternoon activists with Extinction Rebellion NYC (XR NYC) and other groups staged a disruptive protest inside Trump Tower. More than 100 activists participated in the action. 16 were arrested by the NYPD after they blocked 5th Ave in front of Trump Tower for over 40 mins.
The action comes as the Department of Justice takes direction from Trump’s Presidential Memo Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence (NSPM-7), which targets opponents to the Trump Administration. XR NYC, a non-violent activist group that demands action on the climate emergency, is being investigated by the Administration’s Joint Terrorism Task Force
President Trump has called environmentalists “terrorists” while seeking to increase the world’s use of fossil fuels. Trump has operated outside of US and international law by kidnapping Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela and initiating war in Iran – all in service to his fossil fuel funders. Trump’s EPA Administrator, Lee Zeldin, has repealed the Endangerment Finding and told climate deniers to “celebrate vindication.”
This morning’s disruption is a direct response to the Trump Administration, which has failed in its most basic responsibility: telling the truth. The public deserves more than lies, distraction, and spin while the planet burns. And nonviolent activists are entitled to their First Amendment right to freedom of speech regardless of Trump’s attempt to silence them.
PHOTOS AND VIDEOS
You can see photos and videos from the action here. XR NYC owns the media in this folder, and you have permission to use these media with attribution to "Extinction Rebellion NYC".
QUOTES
“Repealing the Endangerment Act tells the American public to question proven science, to question the truth. This is fossil fuel fascism,” said Devin Lilly, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion NYC.
“President Trump calls Americans sounding the alarm about the climate catastrophe ‘terrorists,’ but it is the President who is terrorizing people all over the world and denying future generations a liveable planet,” said Jenna Cardinale, an Extinction Rebellion member who participated in the action.
“NSPM-7 criminalizes protest in this country and encourages a witch hunt. Extinction Rebellion isn’t the enemy within — that’s the President,” said Will Regan, an Extinction Rebellion member who participated in the action.
“The climate emergency is becoming more dire by the day. We won’t be silenced because there’s no time to wait,” said Matthew Menzies, an Extinction Rebellion member who participated in the action.
About Extinction Rebellion
Extinction Rebellion is an international movement that uses nonviolent civil disobedience to compel government action on the climate and nature emergency.
Extinction Rebellion exists because the conventional approaches: voting, writing to politicians, lobbying, and signing petitions, have failed. Powerful political and economic interests prevent change, as does our outdated political system itself. Our strategy is therefore one of nonviolent, disruptive civil disobedience – in short, it is a strategy of rebellion.
Climate boiling is here and now. It’s happening all around us, and it hits historically vulnerable communities hardest of all. Extinction Rebellion demands that all of us, especially major institutions and governments, tell the truth about the ongoing Sixth Mass Extinction. Extinction Rebellion believes that, when faced with the government’s criminal inaction, it is a citizen’s duty to rebel, through peaceful civil disobedience .
Internationally, Extinction Rebellion has been demanding that those with power act now to halt the worst outcomes of the climate catastrophe currently unfolding. Unlike other climate advocacy groups, Extinction Rebellion understands that we must go beyond politics and establish Citizens’ Assemblies. Citizens’ Assemblies are deliberative bodies that are, like juries, formed of randomly selected members of the public. Assembly members hear expert testimony and develop recommendations on specific policy issues. Only through this method can we achieve the fair and just transition we need.
Leading by example, Extinction Rebellion is fighting for a more stable, sustainable world.
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