16 Climate Activists Arrested After Shutting Down MoMA
BREAKING: 16 Climate Activists Arrested After Shutting Down Museum of Modern Art Attempting an Overnight Occupation in Protest of Museum’s Ties to Fossil Fuel Billionaire
This latest protests brings the number of arrested to 46 in 3 days of protests against institutions with ties to fossil fuels in the lead up to Climate Week
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NEW YORK — On Friday night, 16 climate protesters were arrested after shutting down New York’s famed Museum of Modern Art protesting the institution’s ties to private equity and fossil fuel billionaire Henry Kravis of KKR private equity firm. The museum was forced to close its doors and issue refunds, as protesters occupied the space for over five hours.
Demonstrators refused to leave the museum for hours and demanded the museum director Glenn Lowry meet with Wet’suwet’en Nation leader visiting from British Columbia over their financial relationship with KKR co-founder Henry Kravis and his wife Marie-Josée Kravis who are profiting from illegal fossil fuel projects on Indigenous land.
KKR is a major investor in the construction of the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline, one of three pipelines to be built illegally in Wet’suwet’en territory of British Columbia without consent from the Hereditary Chiefs. The pipeline is destroying their water, their wildlife, and the livelihoods of the Wet’suwet’en Nation.
This protest marks a major escalation at the MoMA, which has been a target before by protesters demanding the art institution drops KKR ties and renames the Kravis studio.
KKR is one of the largest private equity firms in the world that profits from exploitative business practices and investments in dirty fossil fuel projects. KKR co-founder Henry Kravis and his wife Marie-Josée Kravis have donated millions of dollars to the museum. Marie- Josée is also the chair of MoMA’s board. In 2005, the Kravises gave MoMA a Matisse painting valued at $25 million.
Arrests at MoMA followed a major escalation on September 15th, where 25 people were arrested after blocking Citibank’s headquarters in lower Manhattan for its role as the second biggest financier of fossil fuels. The day before, on September 14th, five protestors were arrested for blocking traffic outside of Blackrock, one of the biggest financiers of oil, gas and coal projects across the world. The past three days have culminated in a total of 46 arrests at all three institutions, highlighting the growing momentum and urgency of the climate movement.
These protests were part of a larger global movement holding financial and cultural institutions accountable for their ties and investments in fossil fuels and expediting the climate crisis. Similar actions are taking place across NYC ahead of the March to End Fossil Fuels on September 17th, emphasizing the growing momentum of climate activism.
MoMA’s Oil history
The Museum of Modern Art was funded through the millions in profits the Rockefeller family inherited from Standard Oil, and many in the Rockefeller family have moved to put their wealth towards solving climate change. The protest will call on MoMA’s board to further those commitments by cutting ties with individuals and companies that perpetuate climate change, including KKR.