Protesters calling for action against climate change blocked traffic on the Capital Beltway in Silver Spring, Maryland, Monday morning, causing several miles of delays.
More than 10 demonstrators wearing neon yellow vests sat across the road and blocked all lanes of traffic about 10:30 a.m. on the Beltway (Interstate 495) before Colesville Road (U.S. 29), Maryland State Police said.
Some of them held up signs for Declare Emergency, a group that previously shut down D.C.-area highways to demand that President Joe Biden declare an emergency to address climate change. One demonstrator carried a large turtle sculpture.
Chopper4 video showed the protesters sitting on the pavement. Another group of protesters held signs on the overpass above the Beltway, including a person in Native American clothing.
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Police officers were seen talking to demonstrators and escorting them into a police van.
Troopers asked the protesters multiple times to leave, and they arrested seven of them who didn't comply, State Police said.
At least one demonstrator went limp in an apparent attempt to resist arrest. Three members of law enforcement carried that person to the shoulder of the road.
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Police identified the suspects as 74-year-old Robert Achison, of Vermont; 38-year-old Jason Goward, of Michigan; 61-year-old Andrew Hinz, of Maryland; 68-year-old Mary Osterbrink, of North Carolina; 43-year-old William Regan, of Oregon; 32-year-old Nora Swisher, of Maryland; and 58-year-old Holley White, of New York.
Officers took them to the Montgomery County Detention Center and they were all charged with obstructing or hindering the free passage of another in a public place or on a public conveyance and failing to obey an officer who attempts to prevent a disturbance to the public peace, State Police said.
No injuries were reported.
Delays stretched to near Maryland Route 355 at one point, which is about 5 miles out from the protest scene.
Montgomery County police and Maryland State Police both responded.
Fourteen climate protesters were arrested for blocking the Beltway in the same area on July 4, our partners at WTOP reported.
Stay with News4 for more on this developing story.
