The environmental activist group Climate Defiance, known for its often viral, disruptive and coordinated protests, announced plans to protest the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) winter meeting on Friday.
The DNC will be selecting a new chair, alongside a handful of other leadership positions, at its winter meeting taking place on Jan. 30 through Feb. 1 in National Harbor, Maryland, an official told ABC News in November. Climate Defiance plans to “shut down the DNC” on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 to protest the “unholy alliance of fossil fuel money and party politics,” according to the sign-up listing on Action Network, an activist organization platform catered toward left-wing causes.
“Democrats failed us in 2024,” Climate Defiance members wrote. “They sold out to the highest bidders – fossil fuel companies, crypto scumbags, and robber barons – and still lost to Trump.”
At the meeting, 448 DNC members will be selecting new vice chairs, a treasurer, a secretary and a national finance chair, ABC News reported. The leading candidates to replace current DNC chair Jaime Harrison include chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin Ben Wikler, chairman of the Minnesota Democrats Ken Martin and former Democratic Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, according to Fox News.
“[T]he Democratic National Committee is meeting in National Harbor, Maryland to select a new party chair and chart their path out of last year’s catastrophe,” the protest’s sign-up link description reads.
Climate Defiance has become confrontational with several Democratic politicians in the past, most notably former Vice President Kamala Harris, whom they condemned for ignoring a “climate emergency” in 2023 while disrupting her speech. The group later endorsed her presidential campaign with the hope they could “pressure” her into adopting their policies.
Kamala is a finger-to-the-wind politician but we will use that to our advantage. We will roll through with a Category Five hurricane.
It is now on us to build enough power to make her into the climate candidate we so desperately need her to be.
(10/12)
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) September 25, 2024
The group has also protested oil executives, such as ExxonMobile CEO Darren Woods, whose remarks at an event were interrupted by protesters chanting, “Exxon lies and people die.” Among the other high-profile Democratic politicians targeted were Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia. The group has also drawn media attention for disrupting speeches of Biden administration officials, overtaking the field of a congressional baseball game and storming a House office building.
Climate Defiance launched with “seed funding” from Climate Emergency Fund (CEF), a Los Angeles based nonprofit also focused on strengthening climate change awareness, according to the most recent CEF annual report. CEF notes that it is “incredibly proud” to be Climate Defiance’s “lead funder.”
Founded by Hollywood filmmaker Rory Kennedy and oil heiress Aileen Getty, Climate Emergency Fund (CEF) also funds other similarly disruptive protest groups demanding business executives, politicians and the public “choose a side.” One of these groups includes Just Stop Oil, which made headlines for throwing soup on Van Gogh paintings and recently halting a performance of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” in London.
Three Just Stop Oil activists threw soup at two of Vincent van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ paintings in London’s National Gallery. The incident occurred just hours after two other members were jailed for a similar protest in 2022 https://t.co/LWwyElizmr pic.twitter.com/sXIk6PpLdO
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 28, 2024
CEF receives a large share of its funding from Hollywood stars, according to the organization’s 2022 annual report. It has also received funding from Hillary Clinton’s nonprofit, Onward Together, which previously donated $300,000 to the organization, Fox News reported.
Climate Defiance and the ‘Shut Down the DNC!’ host did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation for comment.
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