Climate protesters from the activist group Declare Emergency blocked Interstate 395 eastbound near exit 5 on Friday morning, creating heavy traffic for almost half an hour.
The protest began at 8:40 a.m., according to WTOP. In the ten minutes between the start of the protest and the arrival of the police, enraged drivers gave the activists a piece of their minds.
Video from News2Share posted on Twitter depicted the confrontations.
One driver threw a group banner over the retaining wall to the southbound side of I-395, before telling the seated protesters that “People are trying to get to work, hundreds of people are trying to get to work,” before taking a second banner from the group.
When the protesters moved up on the road and stood, a second driver who had been speaking to them asked “Like, do you guys have lives?”
Further down the thread, there is a video of an irate woman, having parked her car on the shoulder to get around the group, saying that her mother was in the hospital.
The woman then threatened the group, saying “Move before I pull my gun out.” The protesters proceeded to let her car through, though not before the woman spouted expletives and threats at a protester standing near her car.
After the police arrived, they broke up the protest, which was over by 9:08 a.m. according to WTOP.
In a tweet after the protest, Declare Emergency explained their actions, writing “We do not enjoy putting our bodies on the line, we do it because we must. We will keep doing it until [President Biden] declares a climate emergency and stops fossil fuel extraction on federal and indigenous land.”
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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