A DFL candidate for the Minnesota Senate was endorsed in August by a local chapter of the Sunrise Movement, a radical environmental group with a history of protesting outside politicians’ homes while they’re sleeping.
Ann Johnson Stewart said the “fight against climate change is directly linked to the fight for justice and opportunity for all Minnesotans” when she announced her endorsement from the Sunrise Movement’s Carleton College affiliate.
Stewart has also signed the organization’s pledge to advocate for the Green New Deal and reject campaign contributions from the oil, gas and coal industries.
If elected, Stewart claims she will “work to commit Minnesota to 100% energy sustainability by 2030,” support every resolution introduced by the DFL Environmental Caucus, and push for divestment from all “fossil fuel companies and fossil fuel infrastructure.”
“Copper, nickel, and sulfide mining should be heavily restricted and regulated in Minnesota. In the short term, we need to place a moratorium on this kind of mining in our state, including a complete halt to the permitting process, so we can commission an independent study on why the current permit and regulatory processes have not worked as designed,” her campaign website states.
Sunrise Movement
The Sunrise Movement has been instrumental in shaping the climate policies of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, according to a recent investigation from Michelle Malkin.
“The Sunrise Movement’s co-founder, Evan Weber, is a former Occupy Wall Street organizer. Two others, Sara Blazevic and Varshini Prakash, are Green New Deal zealots and Bernie Sanders activists who teamed with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to push the Democrats even further left,” said Malkin.
“Prakash serves as an advisory board member of Climate Power 2020 along with Soros-funded Center for American Progress head John Podesta, former Obama administration environmental czar Carol Browner, former Obama administration science czar John Holdren, former Obama administration Secretary of State John Kerry, former Obama administration EPA head Gina McCarthy, and former Obama administration U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power,” she added.
The group has more than 400 “local hubs” across all 50 states with 50 full-time staffers and $6.5 million in funding.
According to Malkin, the Sierra Club, which has an annual budget of $100 million and counts Michael Bloomberg and George Soros among its top donors, provided the seed money for the Sunrise Movement’s “educational arm,” called the Sunrise School.
“For the past three years, the group has established ‘Sunrise Movement Houses’ where ‘fellows’ ages 18-25 move into training centers in key electoral states,” said Malkin, noting that the goal of the Sunrise School is “mass civil disobedience.”
This summer, the group launched a “We Are Wide Awake” campaign in order to turn politicians’ “lives into waking nightmares by banging pots and pans outside their windows,” a tactic inspired by the pro-abolition movement of the 19th century.
The Sunrise Movement is open about its tactics. “Why are young people interrupting the sleep of local politicians? Because it works,” the organization’s national website says.
“When they do nothing to stop federal agents from snatching us off the streets, when they force us to go back to school in unsafe conditions, when they do nothing to stop our democracy from crumbling, we will shout and sing at their doors from dusk until dawn and make them hear us,” it continues.
The group has organized dozens of these “wide awake” protests in recent months, including a 6:00 a.m. protest outside the home of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and another outside the home of Sen. Lindsey Graham.
We're here with your wake up call @LindseyGrahamSC RBG's seat will be filled after the election pic.twitter.com/0WIDUtbLfc
— Sunrise Movement DC (@SunriseMvmtDC) September 21, 2020
The Sunrise Movement’s local hubs have posted videos and pictures online of similar events in states across the country, including Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan and California.
According to a June report from Politico, the Sunrise Movement deployed its resources in support of anti-police protests following the death of George Floyd.
Stewart is running against Republican Greg Pulles in Senate District 44, which will be vacated by Sen. Paul Anderson, a Republican, after his retirement.
The Sunrise Movement’s Twin Cities hub has endorsed Democrats Omar Fateh, Natasha Lapcinski, Lindsey Port, Jen McEwen and Congresswoman Omar.
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
