National Occupation of Washington, DC Begins with Demonstration at the EPA

Protestors March on EPA Headquarters demanding environmental sustainability and the protection of
federal agency whistle-blowers

Story Transcript

VOICEOVER: Environmental and social justice advocates marched on the federal headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday, March 30th, kicking off the National Occupation of Washington, DC Campaign. Protestors called on the EPA to prioritize environmental protection and sustainability over corporate interests, safeguard the civil rights of agency employees, and protect whistleblowers from retaliation. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo is a former EPA employee who won a federal discrimination lawsuit against the agency and helped to pass the first federal legislation protecting whistleblowers. She helped organize Friday’s action and currently heads a coalition that seeks to protect employees from abusive and discriminatory behavior.

MARSHA COLEMAN-ADEBAYO, PRESIDENT, NO FEAR COALITION

The EPA is being targeted because it is one of the most racist and sexist agencies in the government, which means that the peoples’ work is not getting done, it’s also targeted because it’s home of the No Fear Act, which is the first civil rights whistleblower law brought forward by me and other EPA employees because we were not allowed to do our jobs here, there was a conflict between corporate interests and the environment and so the agency was forcing us to chose corporations over the people and many of us decided to say enough is enough and so as a result many of us were fired form this agency and we decided to continue to organize to make sure the American public understands how important environmental protection is.

VOICEOVER: The EPA action is the first of several upcoming demonstrations targeting Washington, DC as part of what is being dubbed the American Spring. Other events including a social forum as well as an occupation of the Justice Department have been planned in the coming weeks as activists seek to raise awareness and agitate for change in the capital of the government that they say is dominated by corporate interests.