Last month, more than 400,000 people took to the streets of New York City to protest against the global systems which continue to contribute to accelerated climate change in the mad dash to increase profits. Billed as the largest climate rally in the history of the world, the “People’s Climate March” was largely ignored by the mainstream media after filling Manhattan with activists and celebrities trying to garner attention to their cause.
The following Monday, a much smaller group numbering in the thousands stormed through the Financial District en route to Wall Street and staged a “sit-in” large enough to wreak havoc on traffic and commerce in the area for the entire day. As a result, the “Flood Wall Street” action received more press coverage than the previous day and more than 100 protesters (including a large polar bear) were arrested for failing to disperse after being confronted by the NYPD.
While protesters being arrested in New York City has become a common occurrence since the 2011 evolution of Occupy Wall Street, the affirmative “necessity defense” being asserted by the 12 protesters who entered a plea of not guilty is definitely worthy of note because it is so seldomly used, it could actually work.
In a similar case taking place in Bristol County, Massachusetts, two men deployed a necessity defense after being arrested for blocking a coal freighter from reaching port with their small lobster boat. The men declared that they had no choice and their actions were necessary and vital because the consequences of climate change are real and extreme. District Attorney Sam Sutter agreed with their assessment and subsequently reduced or dropped all charges against the men stating that “Climate change is one of the gravest crises our planet has ever faced.”
While the case in Massachusetts is the first time a necessity defense has been used by climate activists, the precedent can be traced back almost 200 years when the mayor of San Francisco was found not liable for destroying a number of homes to halt the spread of an enormous fire that could have devastated the entire city.
Martin Stolar, who along with attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild, will be representing those going to trial using the affirmative “necessity defense” stated at a press conference today that “their action (the defendants) was a necessity for them to sit down to bring attention to the problem.”
The next phase of the trial is scheduled for December 8th.