Extinction Rebellion’s cultists took some time off from hunger strikes to target consumers around the world with Black Friday disruptions to the already frenzied shopping day.
One Denver mall was particularly hard hit.
During one of the busiest shopping days of the year, traffic outside the Cherry Creek Mall was brought to a standstill at the hands of protesters. A group known as “Extinction Rebellion Colorado” blocked traffic by positioning a sleigh in the middle of East 1st Avenue, and locking people to the sleigh by their necks.Testwuide, owner of The Diamond Reserve, said her business was just one of more than 300 outside of the Cherry Creek Mall property that would be impacted by the protests. She believed the protesters were trying to send a message to the mall without realizing the traffic issues would also hinder local business sales.“I get they are trying to make a point. But, they are not understanding that there are small businesses here that are here to make money to put food on their family’s table,” Testwuide told CBS4’s Dillon Thomas. “It is really affecting small businesses in their Christmas sales, and that is a huge part of people’s business success.”
In England, Black Friday shoppers were treated to a die-in at a popular designer outlet. However, it didn’t dampen the purchasing activity.
The sound of a drum echoed through Swindon’s busiest shopping area at lunchtime yesterday and had heads turning towards the entrance.It came from around 15 members of Extinction Rebellion, who were dressed in funereal black to highlight the environmental threat facing the planet.But onlookers were not too upset that their shopping spree had been interrupted.
In Canada, Extinction Rebellion treated Vancouver’s Black Friday shoppers to a funeral march.
Hundreds of activists took to the streets staging a funeral march and wake for “funeral service for the future of our planet, our ecosystems, and for the lives lost in the climate crisis.”The procession, complete with a casket that carried the message “Change or die,” made its way through downtown and into Pacific Centre mall for a die in.“This solemn demonstration of grief will disrupt the business as usual on consumerism’s holiest day. Our goal is to send a strong message to our local and provincial government that they need to start offering more than nice words in this climate crisis, or prepare for mass non-violent civil disobedience,” Extinction Rebellion Vancouver spokesperson Grace Grignon said Thursday in a press release.
The French, however, were less amused and responded more robustly.
New Yorkers kept right on shopping.
I must admit, I consider the the hilarity of the Extinction Rebellion antics an early Christmas present.
But I would like to note, the hypocrisy of the group is astonishing. First, there is all the camera equipment, cell phones, and electronic support that Extinction Rebellion relies on for its publicity…not to mention all the fossil-fuel based paint for their bodies and their signs. But additionally, the group has defaced a protected English landmark as part of this month’s set of stunts.
It’s December 1st, and the snowflakes are already here.
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