Protesters hang 'Resist' banner from crane visible from the White House

The banner hung for hours as authorities attempted to resolve the situation
 By 
Marcus Gilmer
 on 
Protesters hang 'Resist' banner from crane visible from the White House
The banner, hung by Greenpeace protesters, is visible from the White House Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

UPDATE (Jan. 26, 8:45 A.M. ET): On Wednesday evening, Greenpeace posted the following time-lapse on Twitter.

In addition, the seven protesters involved have been charged with second-degree burglary, unlawful entry and destruction of property.


A group of Greenpeace protesters scaled a crane in close proximity to the White House on Wednesday morning and hung a giant banner reading "RESIST," an act of defiance that was visible from the White House.

Greenpeace name-checked Rex Tillerson, the Women's March, and Donald Trump's controversial actions regarding the EPA and the Dakota Access Pipeline, to name a few in its statement on the protest, which they say calls, "for those who want to resist Trump’s attacks on environmental, social, economic, and educational justice to contribute to a better America."

In a statement sent to Mashable, Greenpeace said of today's protest:

The action this morning comes after days of sustained protests against Trump, including the four activists who disrupted Rex Tillerson’s confirmation hearing with “Reject Rex” signs earlier this month, the veterans arrested in Senator John McCain’s office last week, and the hundreds of thousands of participants in Women’s Marches across the country over the weekend.

Since Trump has taken office, his administration has removed all mentions of climate change and LGBTQ rights from the White House website, taken steps to bring back the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines, and issued a press gag order on all employees of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Agriculture.

Just after lunch time, the protesters rolled their sign up and started to move down from the crane.

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

The action certainly got the attention of those near the White House.

A few of the activists involved also shared some images and video on social media as the banner was hung from the crane.

One protester, Nancy, in a video shared from atop the crane, mentioned the Women's March, calling it "one of the most amazing marches." She then talked about Trump's inauguration, saying it "was like... from Hunger Games, or something. It was like really, really elite on the inside and then a sea of people on the outside marching against it."

"We're here to say," she continued, "that even though it was scary to get up here, we're not scared to fight back. We're not just gonna accept that that's the best person our entire country could come up with to lead us."

Just after lunch time, the protesters rolled their sign up and started to move down from the crane.

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Marcus Gilmer

Marcus Gilmer is Mashable's Assistant Real-Times News Editor on the West Coast, reporting on breaking news from his location in San Francisco. An Alabama native, Marcus earned his BA from Birmingham-Southern College and his MFA in Communications from the University of New Orleans. Marcus has previously worked for Chicagoist, The A.V. Club, the Chicago Sun-Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.

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