The 63-year-old environmental activist and professional cellist faces up to seven years in prison after being arrested Thursday while performing a Bach solo outside the headquarters of Citibank, one of the world's largest fossil fuel finance companies, in central New York.
Amid an escalating crackdown on non-violent climate protesters, former Princeton professor John Mark Rosendahl and Alec Connon, director of the climate nonprofit Stop the Money Pipeline, were arrested on criminal contempt charges in a park at the bank's global headquarters.
As Rosendahl was handcuffed and taken away to a police vehicle, he sang, “We are not scared, we are not afraid, we sing for liberation, for we know why we were made.” The crowd of protesters chanted, “Let him play” and “Shame on you, Citibank.”
Thirteen other environmental activists who linked arms in a circle to protect Rosendahl as he played Bach's Cello Suites were detained on charges of obstructing governmental administration, a misdemeanor. “People are dying… today is my birthday,” a teary-eyed 77-year-old Mike Bucci said as police in riot gear broke up the protest.
Since June 10, environmental activists have been peacefully protesting against Citibank's record funding of new fossil fuel projects as part of the “Hot Summer on Wall Street” campaign. At least 3,700 people have taken part in nonviolent civil disobedience, repeatedly blocking entrances to the bank's global headquarters. More than 475 people, including religious leaders, scientists and elders, have been arrested while calling on Citibank to stop funding new coal, oil and gas projects.
According to the latest “Banking on Climate Chaos” report, Citi is the second largest financier of fossil fuels and the largest financier of fossil fuel expansion since the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
The latest arrests come as environmental activists accuse Citibank and the NYPD of a coordinated, escalating effort to suppress nonviolent protests in retaliation for drawing attention to the key role big banks play in funding fossil fuel projects globally. (Citibank declined to comment on the allegations; the NYPD told Inside Climate News that the law enforcement response has not escalated and that no individuals have been targeted.)
Over a five-day period in July, four prominent Summer of Heat organizers and activists were arrested on spurious charges aimed at campaign leaders, an escalation that has been condemned by hundreds of celebrities, scientists, lawmakers, students, nonprofits, and environmentalists.
“The opportunity to avoid the worst impacts of climate change is rapidly slipping… Efforts by the fossil fuel industry and its allies to criminalize and suppress protest are endangering democratic freedoms and obstructing meaningful climate action,” said Cathy Mulvey of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
In 2021, the International Energy Agency warned that the world must immediately halt new investment in upstream oil and gas development to comply with the Paris Climate Agreement and have any hope of limiting global warming to 1.5°C (35°F). Since then, Citibank has provided $60 billion to companies expanding their oil, gas and coal businesses.
Among the leaders facing criminal charges are Rosendahl and Connon, who were first arrested on July 18 and charged with assaulting a man named James Flynn, who works for the City's private security team. Flynn was reviewed by the Guardian and temporary restraining orders were granted against Rosendahl and Connon banning the activists from contacting Flynn or going near his family, homes, businesses or workplaces for six months, although no specific locations were mentioned.
According to publicly available databases, his social media profiles, and his own comments to protesters, Flynn appears to have previously worked as a detective with the New York Police Department.
The City declined to comment on Flynn's role, and the New York Police Department did not immediately respond to the Guardian's request for comment.
On Thursday, Rosendahl and Connon returned to Citibank headquarters in violation of a restraining order they believe is unconstitutional, and were arrested on charges of criminal contempt, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.
“This is a moral issue. The police are doing something wrong,” said protesters Felipe, 86, a former real estate agent from Cuba, as the detainees were taken away for arraignment.
“There have been warnings since the '60s and '70s but I don't know what it will take to change such an ingrained practice, but the situation is urgent,” said Graham Beer, 41, a singer who has performed with Roosendaal and traveled from Philadelphia to the protest with his 4-year-old son.
In a separate incident on July 21, videographer and “Summer of Heat” organizer Teddy Ogborn was arrested and held in solitary confinement for more than eight hours after he was filming City employees who he believed were inciting violence against climate change protesters who were blocking an entrance.
“Just hit him over the head! Just hit him over the head,” yelled a woman caught on camera by Ogborn and identified by protesters as the executive assistant to Citi's co-head of global financial strategy. “Get a machine gun and kill them all,” she added.
“These comments are unacceptable,” a Citi spokesman said. “The matter is under investigation and will be addressed appropriately.”
At an earlier protest, Ogborn also filmed a City lawyer shoving a female protester who was in a group blocking an entrance. A City spokesman said the protesters' claims were false and that employees had pushed the barricade aside after first running into it.
Ogborn was charged with obstruction of governmental administration, a misdemeanor, for placing his hands on a barricade that activists had moved a week earlier. The charge was dropped two weeks later.
“We have made this bank synonymous with environmental destruction, violence and fossil fuels, and I have seen this moment as damaging for the City,” said Ogborn, co-founder of Planet Over Profit. “The escalating attacks against organizers are targeted and an attempt to harass and intimidate protesters using false accusations.”
Last year, Citibank financed nearly twice as much fossil fuel energy as clean energy, less than rivals JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America. To meet global climate goals, banks need to finance four times as much clean energy as fossil fuel energy, according to a BloombergNEF study.
The methodology used to calculate fossil fuel loans has previously been challenged by some banks.
A Citi spokesman said the bank is “transparent” about its “climate-related activities” and that its efforts reflect the transition in global energy demand and the need to address it. “The bank is supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy through our net-zero commitments and $1 trillion sustainable finance target.”
“The Summer of Heat campaign mobilized thousands of ordinary citizens and gave financial executives a chance to confront the very communities they are harming through the billions of dollars they spend on fossil fuels,” said New York City Council Member Alexa Aviles.
“Rather than consider the merits of their claims and acknowledge the role they played, Citibank has chosen to launch a brutal police crackdown on the organizers… Prison incarceration does not make for a livable planet.”
