Climate protesters were arrested on Friday after they “shut down entry” to BlackRock’s New York City headquarters. The demonstration was part of a week-long series of ‘Earth Day to May Day’ protests that targeted the biggest Wall Street financiers of fossil fuels.
Footage shared online by the New York Communities for Change (NYCC) showed several climate activists rushing through the barricades outside BlackRock’s building, with some being brought to the ground. Eleven protesters were arrested after storming the barricades and pouring fake oil at the company’s headquarters.
BlackRock is the world’s largest investor in coal, gas, and oil and has over $9 trillion total in investments. The protesters demanded that the company stop new investments in coal, oil, and gas to avoid global climate catastrophe, in line with basic scientific requirements.
The NYCC accused BlackRock of pouring more money into fossil fuels and playing a leading role in destroying the planet. Alice Hu, senior climate campaigner at NYCC, said, “BlackRock is altering geologic history by funneling hundreds of billions of dollars into fossil fuels.” The group called on the company to put “planet over profit.”
The protests have been criticized by some, including Will Hild, executive director for Consumers’ Research, who called the demonstrators “far-left green activists” engaged in “political theatre.” He accused BlackRock CEO Larry Fink of using the protesters to position himself as a “reasonable centrist” by giving in to some of their demands.
Climate change activists have been stepping up their efforts in recent years, staging protests and disrupting business operations in an attempt to raise awareness of the urgent need to address climate change. However, their tactics have often been met with criticism from those who argue that their actions are disruptive and counterproductive.
Hild told Fox News Digital “there is more to this than what meets the eye” in the motivation behind the protest.
“While we generally support any action that brings pain upon BlackRock, there is more to this than what meets the eye. On the surface it appears as if progressives hate BlackRock as much as the rest of America, but in reality these are the people Larry Fink uses to position himself as a centrist,” Hild said. “This enables the playbook of ESG extremists, who create a problem and then solve it by pushing an agenda that government can’t get passed through the democratic system. Fink and his woke Wall Street buddies are using hardworking American’s money and far left activists to compel companies into submission and force behaviors on consumers.”
