Defendants Sentenced in Climate Necessity Defense Trial
February 1, 2023
(Washington DC) Judge Shelly Mulkey of the DC Superior Court today sentenced two Declare Emergency supporters with time served and $500.00 fines. Both Ms. Wehner and Mr. Severance said they are acting in self defense against a government that is condemning people in this country and around the world to death, to poverty, to oil fueled wars.
“Our trial went as expected; it’s a demonstration that the Judiciary is complicit in the betrayal of the American people. While our Necessity Defense was accepted by judge Mulkey, after hearing our testimonies she ruled that our defense did not meet the three criteria necessary for an acquittal. Well, you can’t imprison a flood, you can’t probation a heatwave, and you can’t fine a wildfire,” said 55-year-old defendant Michelle Wehner of Eugene, OR.
The defendants in the trial, Paul Severance and Michelle Wehner, participated in a nonviolent civil resistance action with other Declare Emergency supporters on April 13, 2022. The group blocked I-395 northbound near the 7th street SW onramp in Washington DC. They pleaded not guilty for reasons of necessity. On December 12, Judge Mulkey left the trial to deliberate on the case, taking into consideration the testimonies of Severance and Wehner on November 1st.
“Our leaders’ lies and willful inaction constitute the Greatest Crime in Human History, yet they sit in fancy offices in beautiful buildings just down the street from this courthouse. And *we* are on trial”, says defendant Paul Severance of DC in his sentencing statement. “A report by the Global Sustainability Institute found that with current trends the global food supply system will face “an unprecedented epidemic of food riots by 2040”. Food production will fall “permanently short of consumption”. What do you think the law will be worth then?”
Echoing these perspectives is U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres,“We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator.” (citation)
The Declare Emergency campaign demands that President Biden hold a press conference, declare a formal state of climate emergency and begin to make full use of his executive authority to save this country from collapse. Join us!
ABOUT DECLARE EMERGENCY
Declare Emergency is a member of the A22 Network for Civil Resistance, a ten-country coalition formed following the 1.2 degree celsius increase in global average temperatures. Each member has a distinct policy demand from their respective governments. In the United States of America, Declare Emergency demands that President Biden declare a national climate emergency, and cease all extraction on federal and indigenous lands . https://www.declareemergency.org/
MEDIA CONTACTS
Michelle Wehner (503) 686-3141
Paul Severance (202) 560-3172
PHOTO CREDIT
Will Dickson / Declare Emergency Supporter
DeclareEmergency@protonmail.com
A22 NETWORK FOR CIVIL RESISTANCE