For Immediate Release
July 7, 2017
Chicago, Illinois
Contact: Jason Schwartz, 347.452.3752, [email protected]
UPDATE: Greenpeace Activists Come Down After Deploying Banner at Trump Hotel and Tower in Chicago
Photos Available: https://www.flickr.com/photos/
Chicago, IL- Today Greenpeace USA activists raised a banner at Trump International Hotel and Tower in downtown Chicago. The activists hoisted the 50×35-foot “Resist and Defend” banner but were detained before they could lock it into place. The activists are currently in police custody.
Dario Parra, a Greenpeace spokesperson onsite said:
“It’s only a few months into Trump’s presidency, yet already he’s managed to threaten our health and our communities and put our planet’s future in danger. Poor people, immigrants, and communities of color like the one I grew up in here in Chicago will bear the harshest impacts of Trump’s environmental and social policies. Chicago is a resilient, creative city full of brave people who aren’t afraid to stand up and won’t back down. I grew up in Chicago. I love my city. Today I was reminded why.”
Taylor Blevons, one of the activists who deployed the banner, said:
“This action demonstrates that we will not accept the threats that the Trump administration poses to people here and around the world. Ignoring the science of climate change and removing us from the Paris Climate Agreement is just another indication that the billionaires who have hijacked our democracy are putting the short term profit of corporations over people and the planet. It’s time for people everywhere to come together to demand that our government works in our interests, instead of treating us as expendable.”
The 98-floor tower is the fifth-tallest building in the United States. The giant TRUMP letters have been controversial since they were installed in 2014. Greenpeace has been active in the resistance to the Trump Administration from early on. In January, Greenpeace USA activists deployed a banner above the White House from a 300-foot crane. Greenpeace activists in the US and around the world have undertaken high-profile nonviolent actions on a regular basis, including one this morning at the G20 summit in Hamburg.
This summer, Greenpeace USA is leading trainings across the country to provide training and support for peaceful, creative resistance actions in an initiative called the Summer of Resistance.
