8 Arrested After Climate Activists Hang Banner On Citgo Sign

August 11, 2020

The Associated Press

Activists from Extinction Rebellion raised a banner on the side of the Citgo sign facing Fenway Park which read "Climate Justice Now" on Monday evening. While the activists were still pulling up the sign the wind appeared to snap the bar holding the banner straight, causing it to collapse.. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Members of an activist group hung a banner that read "CLIMATE JUSTICE NOW" on the iconic Citgo sign near Boston's Fenway Park, leading to eight arrests, police said.

The group unfurled the banner Monday evening as the Red Sox began their game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway. A spokesman for the group, Extinction Rebellion Boston, told The Boston Globe that it was hoping to bring attention to environmental issues.

"We think the ultimate values of the city of Boston would say climate justice is more important than fossil fuel profits," Matthew Kearney said. "We're giving the Citgo sign a makeover — just temporary, of course — an update to the Boston skyline that matches the values of the city."

As the evening Red Sox game is about to begin, activists from Extinction Rebellion start to raise a banner on the Citgo sign in Kenmore Square, Boston. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Police said they received multiple 911 calls about the group, who entered a construction site and got to the roof of the building to hang the banner.

The eight people were taken into custody and charged with trespassing and disturbing the peace, police said. Two others were summoned to court for the same charges, police said.

Boston police load Extinction Rebellion protesters into a police vehicle, after they descended with their equipment from the Citgo sign in Kenmore Square. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)