Abigail Disney, the granddaughter of Disney co-founder Roy O Disney, was arrested on Friday for blocking the entrance to a private plane airport during a climate protest in East Hampton, New York.
Ms Disney, 63, joined climate activists from New York Communities for Change the Sunrise Movement and Reclaim Our Tomorrow to protest wealthy individuals’ use of private planes.
Using what appears to be PVC piping, activists, including Ms Disney, stuck their arms in the piping and tapped them together to form a human chain, preventing people from entering or leaving the private airport.
Police warned protesters to disperse twice before breaking out a power saw to separate each protester and arrest them.
Videos and photos posted to social media showed Ms Disney lying on the ground as officers from the East Hampton Police Department cut her from the PVC pipe to arrest her.
She was placed in handcuffs and taken into a white van where she says she was fingerprinted and issued a mug shot.
“At 63 I still had not popped my fingerprint/mug shot cherry so I did this,” Ms Disney tweeted. “Because the last thing this planet needs is billionaires spewing greenhouse gases to get to their palatial beach homes. Just so wrong.”
Over the last few years, affluent people’s use of private jets has come under scrutiny for contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Several high-net-worth celebrities, including Taylor Swift and Kylie Jenner, have been criticised for using private planes.
Planet Over Profit organiser Teddy Ogborn said in a statement, “As long as the 1 per cent continues to needlessly poison our air and heat our Earth, we will continue to escalate our actions against them.”
East Hampton is a wealthy suburb located on Long Island that is a well-known summer vacation spot for affluent people.
“As a person who has been privileged enough to use private jets, I know it’s hard to give up a luxury that is special," Ms Disney said in a statement obtained by Fox News. "But I also know that the time has passed for spewing greenhouse gasses like this merely for our personal comfort."
Ms Disney cited several recent weather-related events like the floods in Vermont and New York, fatal heat in the South and ocean temperatures around Florida as evidence of the climate crisis.
"The wealthiest 1 per cent uses as much greenhouse gas as the entire bottom 50 per cent. It is time for real change and this is the most obvious place to start,” Ms Disney added.
According to the East Hampton Star fourteen people including Ms Disney were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
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