Citibank orders NYPD to arrest 63-year-old grandfather for performing J.S Bach’s “Suites for Cello”
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New York, NY: Today, Citibank ordered the NYPD to arrest a 63-year-old grandfather, professional cellist, and former Princeton professor, John Mark Rozendaal, for performing J.S. Bach’s “Suites for Cello” in the public plaza of the bank’s global headquarters. As Mr. Rozendaal awaits his arraignment, he is facing charges that carry a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment for his cello performance.
On July 18th, Mr. Rozendaal was targeted by Citibank’s security team and was subjected to an unconstitutional restraining order designed to prevent him from returning to peacefully protest against Citi’s funding of fossil fuels at the bank’s headquarters. Mr. Rozendaal was warned that violating the restraining order could result in a criminal contempt charge, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.
In spite of the risks, Mr. Rozendaal returned to Citi’s headquarters in order to draw attention to the central role that Citibank is playing in the climate crisis. As the NYPD moved to arrest Mr. Rozendaal, 14 other peaceful protesters encircled him and were also arrested. While Citi executives face no consequences for their financing of the fossil fuel industry that is driving climate breakdown, Mr. Rozendaal was apprehended and charged for simply playing a cello.
Mr. Rozendaal is currently being held in central booking and awaiting arraignment.
“Over the last decade, Citibank has been the world’s number one funder of fossil fuel expansion. Yet rather than doing something about its role in the climate crisis, Citi is choosing instead to target climate activists with false charges and unwarranted arrests,” said Mr. Rozendaal.
Since June 10, over 3,700 community members have joined protests demanding an end to Citibank’s financing of fossil fuels as part of the unprecedented Summer of Heat on Wall Street campaign. 475+ people, including faith leaders, scientists, elders, students and parents, have been arrested for engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience, urging Citi to stop bankrolling new coal, oil, and gas.
In recent weeks, Citibank has begun to repeatedly target Summer of Heat campaign leaders and activists with false charges. The leaders of three of the organizations involved in the Summer of Heat campaign have been arrested and hit with false charges, including Jonathan Westin, the executive director of Climate Organizing Hub, Teddy Ogborn, a co-founder of Planet Over Profit, and Alec Connon, the executive director of Stop the Money Pipeline.
In response to Citi’s attempts to silence nonviolent, peaceful protest, the Center for International Environmental Law wrote that, “The use of vague restraining orders to keep protesters away from Citi’s New York headquarters represents a troubling effort to suppress these lawful demonstrations and mute advocacy for a just and sustainable world. Such measures not only threaten democratic freedoms and hinder crucial advocacy against environmental racism, but most importantly undermine efforts to challenge the financial underpinnings of the climate crisis.”
The global NGO ActionAid USA, a federation that works with 41 million people across 70 countries stated, “We urge Citibank to cease these oppressive measures and respect the rights of activists dedicated to nonviolent protest against the funding of the climate-destructive fossil fuel industry.”
“It’s alarming that Citibank is resorting to scare tactics to intimidate climate activists that are simply trying to get the bank to stop financing the fossil fuel industry that is killing our planet and polluting our communities,” said New York City Councilmember Sandy Nurse. “Citi should stop targeting activists and focus instead on ending its support for fossil fuels.”
“The Summer of Heat campaign has mobilized thousands of everyday people and brought financial executives face to face with the very communities they are harming through the billions they bankroll in fossil fuels. Rather than engage on the merits of their arguments and acknowledge the role they play, Citibank has chosen to unleash a brutal police crackdown on organizers. You cannot incarcerate your way to a livable planet. I am calling on Citibank to drop the charges and commit to meeting our shared vision of a livable planet for generations to come,” said New York City Council Member Alexa Avilés
“Citi is trying to repress climate activists in order to hide their disastrous climate policies that are pumping billions into fossil fuels. We will not allow Citi to shut down protests and silence protestors. Their tactics are straight out of a fascist playbook.” said Jonathan Westin, who was the executive director of New York Communities for Change, another organization involved in the campaign, for 10 years, before leaving in 2022 to found the Climate Organizing Hub. Jonathan has been targeted for unwarranted arrests by NYPD and Citi’s Securities and Intelligence Services three times since July 18th.
Next week, the Summer of Heat will continue with its ongoing protests at Citi’s headquarters, as immigration rights organizations march on Citi as part of the Migrants Grieve and Rage Against Climate Destruction day of action.
“As the world’s largest funder of fossil fuel expansion, Citi is complicit in the extreme flooding that left one-third of Pakistan underwater, the extreme heat that is punishing India, and the historic floods that are deluging Bangladesh,” said Mohiba Ahmed with Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM). “Our members understand that we experience the disproportionate impact of the financing of the climate crisis. This is why we unite and take action with all climate displaced peoples and migrants to call on Citibank to do the right thing and end its support of the toxic, deadly fossil fuel industry.”