Climate activists get prison time for dumping red powder on Constitution

Two climate change activists who damaged the U.S. Constitution were
sentenced Monday to more than a year in prison Monday for dumping red
powder over the historic document’s protective casing. 

Federal prosecutors said Donald Zepeda, 35, of Maryland, and Jackson
Green, 27, of Utah, will spend 24 months and 18 months behind bars,
respectively, for the February attack at the National Archives in the
District. 

Both also must stay out of the District and all museums nationwide as
part of the August plea hearings, according to prosecutors. Green
additionally pleaded guilty to defacement of a memorial to Black Civil
War soldiers at the National Gallery of Art. 

Zepeda and Green are members of Declare Emergency, a group of activists
that seeks to bring attention to environmental issues by committing
crimes in the District. 

Prosecutors said Zepeda was part of a group of climate activists who
blocked traffic in the District in April 2023 and also participated in
an attack on Edgar Degas’ “Little Dancer Aged Fourteen” at the National
Gallery of Art that same month. 

Green has been in custody since August because, prosecutors said, he
violated his release agreements when spotted wandering around national
monuments. 

• Matt Delaney can be reached at [email protected].

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/nov/25/climate-activists-get-pr
ison-time-dumping-red-powd/