Nevada Rangers Destroy Burning Man Climate Protests, Arrest Many for ‘Trespassing on Tribal Land’
IowaHawkBlog: “What makes this extra amusing is that the ‘Rangers’ are Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Police, and the backed up traffic is for Burning Man. Native American cops busting up a standoff between two tribes of white progressives is straight up comedy gold”
You guys. I am laughing.
Climate anti-capitalist hooligans have blocked traffic getting into Burning Man, causing a massive backup.
They waved their “Abolish Capitalism” and “General Strike for Climate” signs. They locked themselves on a trailer, which blocked the road.
The protesters wanted to point out “capitalism’s inability to address climate’s ecological breakdown.” They also wanted to go against the “popularization of Burning Man among affluent people who do not live the stated values of Burning Man, resulting in the commodification of the event.”
Drivers tried to confront the protesters on their own to no avail.
Well, Nevada Rangers have no time for their nonsense:
Shortly thereafter, a second video shows a tribal ranger ramming his truck through the protest, telling the activists “You better move” as they scream.
The woman in the sunhat then starts to cry, “We’re not violent,” before a ranger comes out with his gun drawn and instructs the protesters to “get down, on the ground now.”
He can be seen pushing one of the female protesters to the ground with his gun aimed at her head. He later seems to straddle the woman as another ranger handcuffs her ankles together.
Meanwhile, the protester in the sunhat continues to cry, “We have no guns at all. We’re environmental protesters.”
At that point, another ranger can be seen coming into view saying they are “trespassing on tribal land.”
Several of the protesters were taken into custody for their involvement in the demonstration.
Nevada rangers drove directly into a blockade set up by climate protestors on the road to Burning Man. An officer pulled a gun out, tackling a protestor and threatening to shoot
Environmental activists were demanding that #BurningMan ban private jets + single-use plastics pic.twitter.com/dawDjxhV4y
— michelle lh࿊࿊q (@MichelleLhooq) August 28, 2023
What makes this extra amusing is that the "Rangers" are Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Police, and the backed up traffic is for Burning Man. Native American cops busting up a standoff between two tribes of white progressives is straight up comedy gold https://t.co/YQzvVmTuo2
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) August 28, 2023
Moral of the story: if you're a noodle-armed vegan, don't pick a fight with people who enjoy burning cannibal giants alivehttps://t.co/1lWVm28AYA
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) August 28, 2023
I’m not pro climate protesters but it’s worth noting that burning man is a hedonistic party for the wealthy not normal people trying to get to work. Why won’t police do this for the rest of us? https://t.co/wITV0PPZL6
— Phil Labonte (@philthatremains) August 28, 2023
https://twitter.com/ScooterCasterNY/status/1696041219913351462
I guess the situation happened on tribal land because the Burning Man festival occurs in the Black Rock Desert. The Paiute tribe has always asked those who attend to respect the area.
Black Rock Desert is not on the Paiute reservation but it is “within our aboriginal territory. We have a very strong cultural/spiritual tie to the area.”
Here is the full video. It’s great. I love it.
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Comments
“Why won’t police do this for the rest of us?”
I’m curious now as to how much revenue the Paiutes enjoy from the annual Burning Man celebrations. Yes, they aren’t held “on” Paiute land, but people have to travel through it, and it wouldn’t be unheard of that some grease/gratuities “in appreciation” get distributed by the organizers.
I imagine they get enough to make up for the yearly hassle.
As for why police elsewhere won’t do that… part of Hwy 447 runs directly through the rez and traffic is always an issue during Burning Man. They want them moving out as quickly and safely as possible. And I also imagine their tolerance for leftists doing activism on tribal lands is probably extremely low.
Not to mention traffic fines for real and imagined offenses, just like on non-rez land.
Damn, tough guy. Took a set of balls to show us
A. You are a pathetic driver
B. You are slow on the draw
C. You are easily distracted, which is a tactical advantage for me if you pull that shit on the wrong crowd.
In Ohio not only is blocking public right of way illegal but it constitutes fighting words, meaning I think that you can take a swing at them.
Carry a gallon of quick setting epoxy, glue their hands down on the edge of the road. The epoxy will get very hot as it sets up, a fringe benefit. Think about how terrifying it would be as hundreds of pissed off drivers are going by. Will they swerve a bit?
More than blocking a public right of way, it is very close to illegal detention.
Which happens to be the equivalent of kidnapping, which is a violent felony in many jurisdictions, warranting deadly force to resist.
They held that miles long traffic jam hostage.
Not only can blocking traffic not be “fighting words”, for multiple reasons, but even actual fighting words said directly to you do not allow you take a swing at anyone. And that’s even if the “fighting words” doctrine is still valid, which is very doubtful.
The “fighting words” doctrine, when it was valid, said that a state could ban speech directed at a specific individual, which is of a nature that a reasonable person so addressed would just naturally respond automatically by taking a swing at the speaker. Not that he’d be entitled to do so, but the nature of the words can be expected to send him into such a frenzy that he can’t make a rational decision and will engage in violence and get into trouble. So the doctrine says the state can make it illegal to say such things to a person, whether or not that person actually does respond violently.
It’s basically the equivalent of incitement, which is speech that is both intended and likely to cause its audience to lose their minds and commit a crime immediately upon hearing it.
But speech not directly addressed to an individual was never included, and in any case it’s doubtful that the doctrine still exists.
So if there are a bunch of progressive fascists blocking a bridge ad they are preventing me from crossing the bridge can grab the protesters by their hair, drag them to the side of the bridge and handcuff them to the bridge so I can drive across the bridge?
Under current law, no. I think you ought to be allowed to just drive through them, but unfortunately that is not the law.
In Florida, taking people hostage by blocking a highway is viewed as taking people hostage by any other means. The law says the person behind held against their will can decide what is appropriate to free themselves. In addition, after running over someone in a hostage situation you have no obligation to stop and render first aid. I haven’t heard of any road blockages since Governor DeSantis signed that law.
I agree, all climate protesters should be treated like this
t would have made a great PR thing if they had flipped the trailer on its door side, and then proceeded to push it off the road, Maybe 1/2, 1, or more miles into the desert.
Ms Chastain,
Why is it I
Why is it I cannot see my comments until I log in?
I’ve had this issue for quite some time and yet it persists.
That has to be a problem in the device you are using.
I think you are correct. It is time to cycle all power and clear all logic.
If only that worked on democrats.
MrE: I didn’t know they had logic to clear.
I could see your comment when I wasn’t logged in.
When I’m not logged in, I can see comments but not make any. Instead of the “reply” link, there’s a “log in to reply” tag that links to the login page.
Cycling power and resetting logic solves the problem. Cut it off and back on.
Duh
Hot tip for stupid, passive-aggressive, white Marxist chicks:
When your little tribe of 20 monkey-wrenchers has pissed off 500 cars full of commuters, maybe you ought to re-think whining, “But this is a democracy!”
This could have gone down so much more painfully.
And the video would have been even more satisfying.
I wrote elsewhere concerning this…
Note that this is not advocacy for this sort of action, but a thought experiment about what this sort of idiocy might engender some places.
I live in an area with roads that have no verge and no shoulder, and passing a blockage in the road is literally impossible. So, an intentional blocking of both lanes of the road is an entire blockade.
There are also a LOT of veterans here, many who have been trained to deal with this particular situation as a military ambush. And some of them have PTSD and carry.
To deal with a “close ambush” the solution is ALWAYS to “assault through.” That means to drive through it if possible, and to get out of your vehicles and assault any positions of the enemy if you can’t.
I could see someone freaking out at this sort of tactic and ramming the blockade with vicious consequences for the squishies manning it. Or, someone exiting their vehicle with a rifle and providing lethal consequences because they can’t “blow through” and the personnel there do not act quickly enough in moving it. Because, honestly, how would this tactic differ from a terrorist who wanted to kill some civilians stuck in the resultant jam?
And that’s not to speak of the tunnels* where this tactic would immediately make me think it was a terrorist attack.
(* These are underwater tunnels, a mile long. And traffic is such there is NO way you are backing out of the situation.)
It IS a terrorist attack…
In other news, Burning Man is still a thing. I did not know that.
Bunch of hedonists having sex in the desert, with drugs and alcohol and loud music will never NOT be a thing.
A modern Woodstock west but for the pretty people or those with enough $ to negate their lack of beauty?
I went one time a couple decades ago. Unique, but ought to have run it’s course by 2010.
GWB, I see you got a downvote.
I guess somebody never got invited to a hedonistic desert sex party, eh? 😀
Why won’t police do this for the rest of us?
I wouldn’t assume they’re doing it for Burning Man, nor would I rule it out.
The protesters were blocking both directions of a single-lane highway through the Nevada desert; there is plenty of non-Burning-Man traffic that got delayed … including a long line of vehicles driving away from the Black Rock Desert.
If that is indeed Paiute reservation land (and thus far I’ve seen nothing to indicate it’s not), the tribe probably doesn’t want that long line of backed-up traffic there any more than the drivers want to be in it, nor do they want unaffiliated activists trespassing on tribal land. Plus, the longer vehicles remain stopped, the higher the likelihood of a stall or other breakdown, medical emergency, etc.
(Not to mention all the CO2 being released by miles and miles of stationary, running engines. Smart move, “climate protesters”. *smh*)
Nobody’s interests (except maybe the protesters’) are served by letting the roadblock remain. Clearing it benefits everyone involved (except maybe the protesters).
Thus, in my opinion, the tribe rangers were serving everyone’s best interests when they removed the roadblock and arrested the protesters. The fact that Burning Man also benefits is mostly a coincidence.
Keeping people stranded in the desert for hours when they mean to be moving freely through it is NOT a non-violent act.
Never said it wasn’t. Another commenter higher up noted that in some states, blocking traffic like that — where there’s literally nowhere else to go that safely bypasses the block — skirts dangerously close to illegal detention, a.k.a. kidnapping, a.k.a. a violent felony that can be met with deadly force.
Forget what Looney Tunes taught you; the desert is NOT a cutesy place where anyone with a bent stick can find water whenever they need it, and where ACME delivers whatever you want in seconds. It is a cruel, uncaring, unforgiving environment where people can and do die from exposure.
Blocking miles of traffic in a place like that is, in my mind, akin to attempted homicide, or reckless endangerment (at the very least) — and the aforementioned illegal detention/kidnapping. Every one of those is a violent felony.
One count for every human unnecessarily stopped, for each “non-violent protester” involved in the planning or execution.
For the record, CO2 is a NUTRIENT not a pollutant. Plants love it.
But, yeah, idling car emissions of carbon monoxide is bad.
I agree, but try to convince the eco-fascists that CO2 is a necessary nutrient to photosynthesis (which they know, but still rail against it … which to me says a lot about their priorities).
Or that a wildfire on the scale of the Lahaina fire in Maui releases more CO2 than all the cars in the whole State of Hawai’i do in a year. Or that any major volcanic eruption spews more CO2 into the atmosphere every few minutes than the whole of the Industrial Revolution.
And any reaction (read: burning) that produces CO2 will also produce the odd CO here and there. (Both are deadly to humans; CO is considered more dangerous because our respiratory systems don’t detect it like they do CO2. Excess CO2 causes coughing fits, but excess CO will suffocate a person and they might not even realize it.)
Soot (usually coal/charcoal impurities and/or carbon dust) is a pollutant. Sulfur dioxide is a pollutant. Carbon dioxide is necessary for life.
But again, try to convince the eco-fascists.
Can we hire a few of these Rangers for other climate protests?
Tribal police come in all levels of competence, just like ours.
Someone please send this to the German Police who seem to have all been emasculated.
I mean for real
And the Brits, who will arrest people talking on the internet, but escort this kind of trash in a slow walk down the street.
BTW
Climate Nut: “we’re not violent”
Paiute Tribal Police: “too bad, we are. Get on the ground”
Too bad the Paiute’s didn’t follow their cultural tradition and get really violent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paiute_War
Next time, use much bigger trucks!
That was feel-good video! All rich white trust fund brats who paid exorbitant sums to be at Burning Man are now probably facing jail. I hope the tribal judge gives ‘em the max.
Huh? The watermelons weren’t going to Burning Man. The commuters didn’t break laws (not big ones, anyway).
We need more American Indian Justice!
Had any of the people waiting in traffic died from heat exhaustion, the protestors would not have cared.
The video rates up there with the idiots who chained themselves to the chicken processing machine only to have it started by the farmer.
No, they wouldn’t have cared.
But you could make a case that if anyone had died from exposure or heat exhaustion (or any heat-related condition), the protesters should be charged with the unlawful death.
Heck, in my mind they should be charged with the attempt or the reckless endangerment — one count for every person delayed on that highway.
It was hostage taking. In Florida you are allowed to run over people holding you hostage and are not required to stop and render first aid.
Burning man always makes me think of the first Wicker Man movie. Britt Ekland was HOT as the innkeeper’s daughter.
That is one creepy movie.
Going around them with a Cummins diesel Dodge with the trailer was a nice touch
Too bad they did have the EGR delete and roll some coal on the Eco weenies
Kudos to the cops! Blocking the road is not “protest” or “free speech,” because it infringes the rights of everyone using the road for its intended purpose—which is their right. Loved the lefty wailing!!
Not only that, but leaving hundreds of drivers stranded in the Nevada desert is dangerous.
The protestors failed to do their homework on two counts: (1) blocking the highway where it passes through reservation land, and (2) a tribal officer, Anthony Francone was murdered last Friday.
The Pyramid Lake Paiute tribal officers were in no mood to coddle environmental protestors. The protestors learned a valuable lesson called FAFO.
They deserved only a request for those held up to move. If a few of the men in line had simply shoved the trailer and cardboard off the road, things would have moved. The folks doing the blockade could not have prevented it.
These clowns have no right to block the road – time for citizen action.
Yep. As another commenter pointed out, 20-ish “protesters” versus 500-ish pissed-off drivers would be a heck of a lesson in how a democracy actually works!
Everyday people around the world, including many riding the climate change wagon, are getting fed up with this type of “action” and are taking matters into their own hands when the police or other security officials won’t clear the protesters out of the way. There’s an evolving “play stupid game, win stupid prizes” effect building.
From the lady in Europe (Germany I think) who grabbed road-blocking “activists” by the3 pony tails and dragged them to the shoulder to the security team that left a few protesters who had glued themselves to the floor in the building overnight without food or potties, resistance to such shenanigans is growing.
“Don’t try this in a small town!”… these idiot protestors better stick with big cities.
As I have written here many times in the past, in my opinion whenever a person going about his lawful business finds his way deliberately obstructed, and those obstructing it refuse to move, it should be lawful for him to proceed as if they were not there, and any injury or death caused to them should be considered self-inflicted.
I first formed this view about 35 years ago, with regard to union picketers and people lying down in front of troop trains.
I’d invite you to move to Florida, where we have such a law, singed by Governor DeSantis, but so many people are moving here, the home prices are rising too fast.
I wonder whether the arrestees are now being held in a tribal jail. I hope so.
I wonder when and where Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio plans to sponsor the next environmental wacko display of selfish arrogance?
The various Psyops perpetrated on America’s gullible, intelectually lazy people have done their job it appears.