First incident in North America
Climate protectors in USA after painting attack in custody
May 27, 2023 at 4:23 am
Normally, the USA is a pioneer for Germany, but with the climate protest it seems to be the other way around. In Washington, climate activists attack a sculpture in a museum. They have to be in custody for that. You face a horrendous fine.
In the United States, two climate activists have been taken into custody for protesting at an art exhibition on Friday. According to the US Attorney’s Office, they are charged with conspiring to commit a crime against the United States and damaging a museum. Accordingly, Timothy Martin and Joanna Smith, both 53 years old, previously presented themselves to the authorities.
The two have been accused of smearing paint on the display case and base of French artist Edgar Degas’ sculpture “Little 14-Year-Old Dancer” at the National Gallery of Art. According to the public prosecutor, the attack caused damage of 2,400 dollars (2,200 euros), for the repair of which the work had to be removed from the exhibition for ten days. The two activists face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
The April action was claimed by a group called Declare Emergency, which US attorneys said also blocked roads in the Washington metro area to draw attention to climate change. It was one of the first protests of this kind in North America.
In Europe, climate activists attacked paintings by Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet and Francisco de Goya last year.