A protest outside the San Francisco office of House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi ended peacefully Tuesday with no arrests, according to the group behind the action, the Sunrise Movement.
Around 11 a.m., about 250 protesters rallied around the San Francisco Federal Building on Seventh Street, with several of them blocking entrances to the building and risking arrest.
The protesters are demanding that Pelosi support a Select Committee on a Green New Deal. The Green New Deal, legislation being championed by U.S. Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, seeks to develop a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and move toward green infrastructure while creating millions of new jobs nationwide.
The protest at the building on Seventh Street in San Francisco comes on the heels of a larger demonstration Monday at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., in which more than 130 protesters were arrested for sitting in at Pelosi’s office and the offices of other top Democratic officials.
The protesters at Tuesday’s rally identified themselves with the group Sunrise Movement Bay Area, part of the national organization of hundreds of teens and young adults.
The protest ended around 2:30 p.m., Zoe Cina-Sklar, a Sunrise Movement member, said.
Today, before the 11 a.m. protest, the group rallied at United Nations Plaza.
Morissa Zuckerman, a Sunrise Movement member, said:
“We’re demanding a Green New Deal because it is the only plan that will act in line with science and justice and get us where we need to be … A lot is at stake in this moment.”
A sit-in at Pelosi’s Washington office was held last month too.
According to Taylor Griffin, a spokesperson for Pelosi, the Democratic leader reached out to the Sunrise Movement during the initial November protest and offered a meeting, but the group did not respond until Monday’s protest.
Griffin said:
“Addressing climate change remains a top priority for Speaker-designate Pelosi … She has proposed reinstating a select committee on climate and looks forward to caucus-wide discussion with the committees of jurisdiction to determine the appropriate path forward.”
According to Cina-Sklar, Sunrise Movement members will be in contact with Pelosi, however, she said:
“We feel the time for talk is over and the time for action is now … It’s great she’s offering us a meeting, but it’s not a substitute for real action on climate and real action for a Green New Deal.”
Pelosi was in Washington Tuesday and met with President Donald Trump at the White House to discuss funding for border security.
Last modified December 11, 2018 9:56 pm
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