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About 20 people blocked all lanes and both shoulders of the inner circle of Interstate 495 at the US 29/Colesville Road exit Monday afternoon.
Declare Emergency, a group that seeks government action on climate change, took credit for the outage. On its website, the group called for President Biden to declare a national emergency.
“This was a collaborative effort involving a young lady who is eight months pregnant and worried about the world her baby will be born into,” Declare Emergency member Paul Severance said in a phone interview.
Severance said police made several arrests and that he witnessed people getting out of cars in front of him, limping as police led them away. He suggested some would be charged with resisting arrest. Maryland State Police noted on Twitter that the road had reopened by mid-afternoon, but did not provide additional information.
Severance noted that their small group, primarily in Montgomery County, is part of a larger action on climate issues.
“We mobilized all over the country. We had conversations with Noam Chomsky and [comedian-activist] Adam McKay and we have also gone door to door,” he said. “We’re doing what we can to get more people involved.”
He added: “We are non-violent civil resistance. We respect everyone – the drivers we block, the police, everyone.”
The protest was unrelated to a convoy of trucks that caused traffic delays on Interstate 95, police said.
On July 4, climate change protesters shut down the Beltway with heavy backups at the Colesville Road exit. (Video: Luz Lazo)
Photos show several protesters sitting on the other side of the Ring Road, blocking traffic.
State police reopened the Beltway shortly before 2 p.m., according to the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
UPDATE: All lanes have reopened on Inner Loop I-495 near exit 30 for Colesville Rd (US-29). Expect residual delays. #MdTraffic
— Montgomery Co OEMHS (@ReadyMontgomery) July 4, 2022
Climate change protesters in the Beltway were one of many groups exercising their right to assemble across the region on Independence Day.
A convoy of truckers, the Restoration Movement of 1776, formerly known as the “People’s Convoy,” blocked traffic on I-95 to denounce vaccine mandates. And abortion rights groups rallied outside the Supreme Court building throughout the day to protest the court’s overturn Roe v. Wade. Another group plans to march on the National Mall later Monday night.
Chantel Piper, 32, traveled from New York three weeks ago to help organize Rise Up 4 abortion rights rallies in D.C.
She said she wishes more people were out in the streets protesting with them, but she was pleased with Monday’s turnout.
“People answered the call,” she said. “People who have never protested before, people who are really angry that they don’t want to celebrate the Fourth of July, not when that right is taken away from them.”
Theo Armus contributed to this report.
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