Seventy Climate Protesters Arrested Outside New York Times Building

A protest in front of the New York Times building in Midtown spiraled into chaos Saturday afternoon when nearly 70 demonstrators were taken into police custody, according to cops.

The protestors, identified as activist group Extinction Rebellion NYC, first gathered at Bryant Park around noon and then passed through Times Square before setting up in front of the Times building shortly before 1:30 p.m., according to posts to the group’s Twitter page.

Videos and photographs posted to social media show several demonstrators climbing onto the high-rise’s glass awning, where some waved flags and others hung a sign, which read ‘Climate Change=Mass Murder,” with a red strike through “Change” and the word “Emergency” written on top, according to a video posted by @RussellTWest.

‘Report the Urgency! This Is a #ClimateEmergency!’: 70 Arrested Outside @nytimes HQ Demanding Paper Treat Climate Like Crisis It Is https://t.co/jhGkk9sVKe @ExtinctionR @XR_NYC “This is the biggest crisis in human history.”

— Common Dreams (@commondreams) June 23, 2019

Just one block over, a Port Authority vehicle went up in flames shortly before 2 p.m. at West 41st Street and 9th Avenue, according to an FDNY spokesman.

A Port Authority spokeswoman said the fire was not related to the protest, and preliminarily appeared to have started when the van overheated.

View of @XR_NYC action from Port Authority roof where banner droppers descended from 5 flights up. 70 arrests to demand @nytimes #TellTheTruth on #ClimateEmergency pic.twitter.com/GBXheDZnnD

— Barbara Ross (@BarbaraRossNYC) June 23, 2019

An NYPD spokesman told The Post 67 people were taken into custody outside The Times building, while three others were taken into custody by the Port Authority Police.

Their charges were not immediately available.

Read more at NY Post