BELOW SUPERNAV drop zone ⇩

Protesters block road into Burning Man; rangers ram blockade

  • Burning Man is a festival that takes place in the Nevada desert
  • Protesters put up a blockade on the road in, causing a traffic jam
  • Videos show police ramming the blockade and arresting activists

MAIN AREA TOP drop zone ⇩

(NewsNation) — Climate activists caused a mileslong traffic jam this weekend when they blocked the only road leading into the Burning Man festival that takes place in the Nevada desert.

Videos posted online shows activists using a trailer to block the road that leads into Black Rock City. One video posted to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, shows a white pickup truck appearing to be from the Pyramid Lake Ranger Station crashing through the barricade set up by protesters.

The blockade led to clashes with motorist and tribal rangers, the Los Angeles Times reported. Pyramid Lake, a tribal law enforcement agency, did not respond to the Times’ request for comment.

The group behind the protest, Seven Circles, said the purpose of the blockade was to draw attention to “capitalism’s inability to address climate and ecological breakdown,” according to a news release. Seven Circles said Burning Man has been commodified by “affluent people who do not live the stated values” of the festival.

Burning Man is an annual festival that brings together “artists, makers, and community organizers” from around the world, according to the Burning Man Project. Created in 1986 on a San Francisco beach, the festival gets its name from the culminating ceremony: the burning of a large wooden effigy referred to as the Man.

Seven Circles criticized Burning Man for what it said was insufficient steps to achieve “carbon negativity and ecological regeneration for Black Rock City by 2030.”

The group put forward three demands for Burning Man, including advocating for system change on both political and economic level; direct action and supporting general strikes; and banning private jets, single use plastics and unnecessary propane burning.

“The group believes that Burning Man’s apolitical stance to date is detrimental to its claimed values, especially as carbon emissions continue to rise despite government and corporate commitments to reduce CO2 emissions by more than half by 2030,” Seven Circles said.

West

Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

MAIN AREA MIDDLE drop zone ⇩

Trending on NewsNation

MAIN AREA BOTTOM drop zone ⇩

tt

KC Chiefs parade shooting: 1 dead, 21 shot including 9 kids | Morning in America

Witness of Chiefs parade shooting describes suspect | Banfield

Kansas City Chiefs parade shooting: Mom of 2 dead, over 20 shot | Banfield

WWE star Ashley Massaro 'threatened' by board to keep quiet about alleged rape: Friend | Banfield

Friend of WWE star: Ashley Massaro 'spent hours' sobbing after alleged rape | Banfield

Partly Cloudy

la

58°F Partly Cloudy Feels like 57°
Wind
7 mph N
Humidity
43%
Sunrise
Sunset

Tonight

Mostly clear. Gusty winds diminishing after midnight. Low around 55F. Winds NNE at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
55°F Mostly clear. Gusty winds diminishing after midnight. Low around 55F. Winds NNE at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
Wind
21 mph NNE
Precip
0%
Sunset
Moon Phase
Waxing Gibbous