About a half-dozen climate activists on Friday stormed into a Harvard University venue hosting Sen. Joe Manchin and called him a “sick f*ck” and hurled other derogatory comments at the West Virginia Democrat in an aggressive demonstration that at one point turned violent.
The group Climate Defiance posted an edited video of the protest on X which showed a college-aged man yelling at Manchin “you sold our futures and got rich doing it, you sick fuck.” Manchin got up to confront the demonstrator but an apparent aide got in between the two and shoved the protestor to the ground. The video cuts to another scene immediately after that incident.
The hostile takeover of the room occurred at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics. Manchin was reportedly speaking on his decision not to seek reelection in a discussion at which his adult daughter, a business executive, was also present and said “doesn’t anybody monitor the doors here” after the protesters barged in, the Harvard Crimson reported.
The demonstrators voiced anger over his support of the Mountain Valley Pipeline project. The Boston Globe reported that the 300-mile pipeline under construction “would bring natural gas from West Virginia to southern Virginia, cutting a path through the Appalachian Mountains, a national forest, and hundreds of stream crossings.”
“Approval of the $6.6 billion project was included in legislation last spring to raise the debt ceiling and was viewed as a concession made by the White House to Manchin for his support.”
Police were called in. When they arrived they ordered the protesters to leave, and the demonstrators complied, according to the Harvard Crimson.
Climate Defiance describes itself as a new “youth-led group using direct action to resist fossil fuels.” The group bragged over its disruption on X on Friday, posting “we just called Joe Manchin a sick fuck. We humiliated him in front of a herd of Harvard elites. He squared up. We held firm. Barbaric murderer, hideous fiend, he torches humanity and laughs.”
The nearly one-minute video shows a mix of young and old protesters. It’s unknown at this time if any are Harvard students. The video has been viewed nearly 6 million times as of Sunday evening.
BREAKING: we just called Joe Manchin a sick fuck. We humiliated him in front of a herd of Harvard elites. He squared up. We held firm. Barbaric murderer, hideous fiend, he torches humanity and laughs. pic.twitter.com/1ajrQsKnbJ
— Climate Defiance (@ClimateDefiance) March 1, 2024
A Harvard spokesperson said in a statement to WHDH Boston: “A Harvard University police officer ordered the protesters to leave the Kennedy School campus, and the protesters complied… Harvard University Police Department and the Kennedy School are reviewing the incident.”
Manchin’s office has not responded to requests from the Crimson for comment. The student newspaper reported Manchin asked protesters “to sit down somewhere so we can talk,” but the protesters rejected the offer.
“I’m not going to sit down,” came one reply. “You’ve received more funding from fossil fuels than any other senator.”
MORE: Check out The College Fix’s Campus Cancel Culture Database’s tally of Harvard incidents
IMAGE: X screenshot
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