HOUSTON — Police said they arrested eight climate change protesters in front of Sen. Ted Cruz’s Houston home Monday.
They said about 60 to 70 activists from various groups joined the protest that began around 11 a.m.
Most of them stayed on the sidewalk but a few from the Sunrise Movement got on Cruz’s lawn and refused to budge, HPD Asst. Chief Ben Tien said.
“We gave them ample opportunity to leave the location, but they refused,” he said.
Police said they spent over an hour trying to negotiate with them and gave them multiple warnings. After they still ignored orders to move, eight of them were arrested on trespassing charges.
“The Houston Police Department supports First Amendment rights, right to public assembly, but it has to be done in a safe manner and it has to be done within the confines and within the scope of the law,” Tien said.
On their website, the Sunrise Movement describes itself as “a youth movement to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process.”
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