Gen Z climate protesters arrested outside McCarthy’s office

Generation Z protesters were arrested outside of Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) office Thursday.

More than 150 teenagers made their way into McCarthy’s office where they demanded “he support bridge funding to keep the government open, including funding the Federal Emergency Management Administration to respond to climate disasters.” U.S. Capitol Police later arrested 18 of them outside the Speaker’s office, according to the Sunrise Movement, a climate activist group. 

“Today showed that the GOP is nothing but a group of cowards,” Sunrise Movement organizer Adah Crandall said in a press release. “They chose to arrest a bunch of teenagers instead of facing us. They would rather shut down the government than do their jobs and protect our generation. Our generation is watching and we will hold them accountable for their actions.”

A bail fund on GoFundMe has been set up for the arrested protesters with the goal to get the 18 “out of jail by the end of the afternoon,” according to the site.

“A group of young climate activists were just arrested after occupying speaker of the house Kevin McCarthy’s office,” according to the funding page. “They demanded the speaker to not shut down the government, and instead continue funding critical services that keep people safe from the climate crisis and financial strain.”

The arrests come after a different group of activists had a sit-in in McCarthy’s office earlier this month on funding for HIV and AIDS programs. Several of the demonstrators were also arrested by Capitol Police at the time.

“Today showed that the thousands of young people rising up around the country are stronger than the GOP,” said Shiva Rajbhandari, another Sunrise organizer. “Our generation is ready to do whatever it takes to stop the climate crisis and win the Green New Deal: whether it’s getting arrested in the halls of Congress, taking over our schools, or getting elected ourselves.”

Capitol Police said they arrested “18 people for Crowding, Obstructing, or Incommoding” in a statement emailed to The Hill.

“This morning, people started demonstrating inside the Rayburn House Office Building, which is not allowed in Congressional Buildings,” the Capitol Police said. “After multiple warnings, the demonstrators refused to stop illegally demonstrating.”

The Hill has reached out to McCarthy’s office.