Cellist and climate activist John Mark Rozendaal was arrested Thursday while performing a Bach cello suite outside Citibank’s New York headquarters. He and others from climate activist group Stop the Money Pipeline were protesting the bank’s role as one of the world’s largest financiers of fossil fuel companies.
Rozendaal, 63, faces up to seven years in prison for defying a restraining order issued for him from a previous incident. Thirteen other protesters were arrested Thursday for locking arms around Rozendaal and attempting to protect him from police. They face misdemeanor charges for alleged obstruction of governmental administration.
According to The Guardian, climate activists have been peacefully protesting Citibank since June 10 in what they call the “Summer of Heat on Wall Street” campaign. More than 475 people have been arrested,
Rozendaal previously made headlines throughout the classical music world for a Nov. 30, 2023, incident in which he and a small group of activists disrupted a Metropolitan Opera performance of Wagner’s “Tannhäuser,” yelling and unfurling two banners that read, “No Opera on a Dead Planet.” No arrests were made in that incident.
