Activists Scale Flagpoles at Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Display 625-square-foot Banner Demanding RNC Not "Trump" Communities

Four activists have scaled a pair of 60-foot flagpoles at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH, attaching a 625-square-foot banner. The team of activists involved in the fight against fracking and the immigration justice movement is taking action to show the interconnected nature of these fights for justice.

"As the Presidential campaigns swing into full step with this week's RNC and next week's DNC, communities directly impacted by oil and gas extraction have come together with immigrant communities being torn apart by deportations to take a stand against an unjust system that targets us all," said Emmelia Talarico, an action participant from Maryland who works to address labor and immigration injustice.

Activists hope to demonstrate that while Trump is calling for the building of a wall with Mexico, social movements are breaking down the barriers that have prevented them from working together. "Through the power of direct action, our movements can and will stop the hateful rhetoric of Donald Trump, and continue to push Hillary Clinton to ban fracking and stop the deportations," stated Shane Davis, an action participant who was forced from his home in Colorado after being exposed to the harmful impacts of fracking. Davis is also a member of the Stop the Frack Attack Network Advisory Council.

"We must remember that fracking often targets low income communities of color, often many of which are immigrants such as the Central Valley of California, where over 95% of fracking occurs in California," said Davis. "We cannot stand by and accept a political system in which both candidates support the toxic fracking industry, and one candidate freely uses violent racialized language against immigrant communities."

Photos available: https://flic.kr/s/aHskDxV4ik