#FREETHEDEGASTWO - Little Dancer
FEDERAL CHARGES FOR CLIMATE ACTIVISTS ARRESTED IN A PROTEST INVOLVING EDGAR DEGAS’ FAMOUS SCULPTURE, “LITTLE DANCER,” REPRESENT AN OMINOUS TURNING POINT IN THE GOVERNMENT’S ONGOING REPRESSION OF THE CLIMATE MOVEMENT
June 27, 2023
xrnyc_press@unitedrebellion.com
New York, NY - On Saturday, June 24th at 11:30 am, a group of 20 climate activists, primarily from Extinction Rebellion, joined by members of Rise & Resist, staged a demonstration in front of the renowned bronze sculpture "The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer" by Edgar Degas, exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The activists used tape to cover their mouths, which bore words like 'Glaciers,' 'Famine,' 'Floods,' and 'Wildlife,' symbolizing the suppression faced by activists. The demonstration aimed to raise public awareness about the excessive charges pressed against Joanna Smith and Tim Martin for their symbolic, non-violent action on April 27th, 2023. The group raised their palms, colored in black and red, mirroring Joanna Smith and Tim Martin’s protest.
In a troubling pattern of repression observed in the treatment of climate activists by law enforcement, Joanna Smith and Tim Martin, members of the climate group Declare Emergency, have recently been indicted on federal conspiracy charges for committing an offense against the U.S. Government and causing injury to a National Gallery of Art exhibit. These charges stem from a nonviolent climate protest held at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Smith and Martin were arrested after applying paint solely to a glass case enclosing Edgar Degas' renowned wax sculpture, "Little Dancer Aged Fourteen Years." Video footage from the April demonstration shows Smith displaying her hands covered in red paint and stating, "This art is beautiful, and we're damaging it with climate change. We need our leaders to take urgent action and tell us the truth about the climate crisis."
"If our government still possesses any remnants of democracy, it must not permit climate criminals to elude accountability, while simultaneously punishing citizens who dare to challenge their wrongdoing—citizens who themselves are victims of the actions of these climate criminals," expressed Georgia B. Smith, an interdisciplinary artist and activist with Extinction Rebellion.
Despite no direct damage to the artwork occurring or being attempted, and the estimated total damage to the installation being a mere $2,400, which also appears inflated and largely attributed to the museum's decisions following the protest, Martin and Smith face two federal charges. Combined, these charges carry a maximum penalty of a $500,000 fine and ten years in prison. The severity of these charges aligns with a recent trend of unjustifiably harsh (and possibly illegal) measures taken against climate activists. It appears to be part of a deliberate strategy of intimidation targeting such groups and their supporters.
Stu Waldman, an organizer with Rise & Resist, said, "If Joanna and Tim had been graffiti artists using fingerpaint to tag plexiglass, they wouldn't be facing the prospect of lengthy prison sentences. Their indictment is not based on their actions, but on their motivations. It is an indictment of intimidation, rather than a pursuit of justice."
On Wednesday May 31st, an Atlanta police department SWAT team together with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested three people who had not engaged in climate protest. Those arrested were merely supporters of previously arrested activists. They were trying to organize their legal defense and raise bond money for them – activities protected as part of an accused person’s constitutional right to a fair trial. The charges included “money laundering” and “charity fraud,” words that smack of some sort of underworld conspiracy. These arrests come on the heels of what has been called “capricious and ungrounded” domestic terrorism charges, leveled indiscriminately against protesters of the proposed $90 million Atlanta police training center known as Cop City. Cop City is opposed by environmentalists and many other social justice activists.
In addition, on January 18th of this year, police shot and killed the Venezuelan eco-activist Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, known as Tortuguita, near a Cop City encampment. Police claim that Terán fired at them without warning, an allegation that his friends and family vehemently deny and that has been proven untrue through an autopsy.
The efforts of climate activists like Smith and Martin are often wrongly labeled as destructive, despite their true objective of safeguarding creation, including artistic expression, from those who would despoil it for the sake of profit.
Declare Emergency released a statement that says, in part, “We understand the value and importance of art in our society, and we also know that it and everything we love is at stake if we don’t tackle the climate emergency with the urgency that it deserves.”
Extinction Rebellion strongly condemns the federal government's actions targeting Joanna Smith and Tim Martin, and demands the immediate dismissal of the indictment against them. In support of the #FreeTheDegasTwo campaign, the public is urged to sign a petition calling on the Assistant U.S. District Attorney Cameron A. Tepfer to drop the charges against Joanna Smith and Tim Martin.
For photos and video, click here.
