Climate Activist Found Not Guilty of Felony!

Climate activists who were arrested at Hanscom Field last year are moving forward into an unprecedented series of criminal trials after refusing to accept the Commonwealth's unreasonable plea deals. On April 20 2024, members of Extinction Rebellion Boston (XR Boston) disrupted private jet flights to protest a proposed expansion of 17 new private jet hangars at the airfield that is expected to largely benefit the ultra-wealthy. This expansion would more than double the capacity for private jet services and Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport)'s board voted to approve this plan back in October 2022. After the expansion, private jets from Hanscom would cancel out the carbon benefits from 70% of solar photovoltaics in the state of Massachusetts. Based on a comprehensive analysis of private flights traveling to and from Hanscom Field over an 18-month period, the expansion would primarily serve the wealthiest travelers in the region, many of whom frequently take short-hop flights to recreational and luxury destinations. Many flights are as little as 15 minutes, traveling from Concord to Boston Logan International Airport.

After over a year of court hearings for the 21 defendants, approximately 12 of them have decided to move forward to trial in response to the Commonwealth's unreasonable plea offers. Judge Sharon Lalli at Concord District Court decided to try each defendant individually, one per week, rather than trying all the defendants as a group. Judge Dan Crane is presiding over the cases. Brian Okum was the first defendant to be tried, and the only arrestee who faced a felony charge. If Okum was convicted, he would have been the first climate activist in Massachusetts history to receive a felony conviction for participating in a peaceful protest.

Okum's trial at Concord District Court happened on May 13. After much deliberation, the jury found him not guilty of the felony charge of "malicious destruction of property" and not guilty of the misdemeanor charge of "disorderly conduct," but guilty of the misdemeanor of "trespassing." This is the first Extinction Rebellion case to go to trial in Massachusetts, after previous civil disobedience cases have been resolved with many hours of community service. The route of community service punishments saves the court time, effort, and money, as opposed to the expense of individual trials. XR Boston spokesperson Alex Chambers said, "Forcing a trial on Brian without offering a negotiation is a new approach for the state in dealing with protestors. Trying to go for a felony is a big departure from the norm."

Despite receiving the not guilty verdict on the felony charge, members of XR Boston are dissatisfied that such a serious charge was levied in the first place. After the trial, Okum commented, "Getting charged with a felony was an escalation on its own. I'm grateful there was no conviction on the felony, because from the outset there was no evidence that met the criteria of that charge. But despite that, the state still pursued a felony conviction for a peaceful activist, which is new for Massachusetts." Julia Hansen, a co-defendant and mother to a 7-month old baby with whom she was pregnant during the Hanscom arrest, agreed. Hansen said, "While I'm relieved that the charges of malicious property destruction and disturbing the peace were shown to be baloney, I'm disturbed that the Commonwealth is punishing a peaceful climate protestor for trespassing, when the super rich in their private jets are allowed to trespass on our futures without consequence." On Wednesday May 14, a supportive crowd gathered at the Concord Courthouse to express their dissent for the use of taxpayer funds for these ongoing trials against climate activists.

Okum's punishment for his misdemeanor conviction includes a fee for trial processing, a year-long ban from visiting nearby Hanscom Airfield, and a year of probation during which any additional arrests would be treated harshly. Okum commented, "Our attorneys felt that the yearlong probation sentencing was steep for a first conviction; it's clearly meant to deter me from engaging in protest for a full year. Now, even completely legal non-violent forms of direct action would carry a level of risk simply because I would be protesting. The severity and type of this sentence for a first conviction points toward this being a deliberate means to deter free speech."

XR Boston's attorney Kylah Clay, working pro bono with the National Lawyer's Guild, commented, "I think the jury reached the right decision on the disorderly conduct and malicious destruction charges. We will continue to vigorously defend against the trespass charge (and disorderly charge) for the rest of the Hanscom defendants." When asked how he thinks the guilty charge for trespassing might affect other activists, Okum responded, "I don't think it does impact us. We're going to continue doing this work. The Hanscom project is ongoing, so the fight against it won't stop. It could set a precedent for other activists going to trial for Hanscom-related charges, however."

Moving forward, the current trial schedule from Concord District Court has one defendant facing trial each week, beginning every Tuesday at 9 am. Depending on adjustments from the court, this series of trials could last until early September. Members of other prominent climate groups including Stop Private Jet Expansion (SPJE), Mothers Out Front, and 350 Mass have committed to attending the trials every week, sitting in the courtroom in solidarity.

During the 2024 protest, members of XR Boston disrupted flights at Hanscom airfield in a peaceful, non-violent, non-destructive act of civil disobedience. The protesters held banners reading "Ban Private Jets," and "These Flying F--ks Don't Give a Flying F--k" and chanted "Our carbon budgets will be spent, all thanks to the 1%!" Extinction Rebellion Boston uses non-destructive, non-violent civil disobedience tactics, so no passengers or airport property were put at risk during this protest.

This demonstration in 2024, executed during the public comment period for the developers' Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR), had its intended effect. MEPA rejected the DEIR in June 2024. The awareness raised by XR Boston's protest has been credited as a major reason for the rejection, along with 1,500+ critical public comments that were submitted to MEPA, 13,500 petition signatures opposing the proposed development, and an important independent analysis which refuted the developers’ outrageous claims. The rejection of the DEIR has bought anti-expansion advocates, including XR Boston and Stop Private Jet Expansion at Hanscom or Anywhere (SPJE)5 more than a year to continue raising public awareness. The developers have been given the opportunity to submit a supplemental DEIR report, which is expected to be released toward the end of this summer.

Parke Wilde is a leading food economist and a popular professor at Tufts University, and he left Hanscom Field in handcuffs during last spring's action. Wilde is preparing for his trial in late May or early June. Wilde says, "I hope for a fair and honest trial. On that April day, we spoke up for the Commonwealth's own environmental principles and laws, including especially the Net Zero Action Plan. I trust the judge, prosecutors, and jury will hear and understand that we were acting as responsible citizens serving the public good and even the good of the state."

Prominent figures in the Massachusetts government have also spoken out against the proposed Hanscom expansion, including State Senator Michael J. Barrett. During a MEPA meeting to collect public comments on March 4 2024, Barrett faced the panel of developers and said, "There is nothing environmentally redeeming in what you're planning to do here, and you don't care about that anyway. You cater to the small niche of the richest people in Massachusetts, and you make no bones about it. I want to express severe disappointment in Massport. I know the destruction you folks intend to wreak on Massachusetts, and I resent it. This is all about becoming richer yourselves by helping people a little richer than you." Despite this outpouring of public criticism for the proposed Hanscom Field expansion, and a growing statewide movement to oppose it, Governor Healey has not yet commented, aside from having a spokesperson say Healey "will review the environmental impacts outlined in the MEPA process” last June.

Massachusetts State Representatives Cataldo, Ciccolo, Gentile, Gordon, and Peisch also sent a critical letter to MEPA analyst Alex Strysky during the DEIR public comment period in 2024. This letter included the statement: "At the state level, Governor Healey’s Clean Energy and Climate Plan for 2050 and the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2021 require Massachusetts to 'achieve gross emissions reductions of 85% below 1990 levels and ensure that the total statewide GHG emissions released into the atmosphere are less than or equal to the amount removed from the atmosphere.' Nothing could be more antagonistic to the Commonwealth’s climate goals than accepting without proper diligence a proposal that threatens to set us back immeasurably from our pursuit of greenhouse gas reduction objectives." The letter concluded, "The DEIR and the public’s comments share an undercurrent of two questions, one empirical and one value-based: Are private jets really necessary to “lengthen our lead” in the Massachusetts economy? And if so, is it worthwhile to mortgage our children’s future in order to obtain the economic benefits that expanded private jet hangars purport to deliver?"

Niels Burger, an Arlington artist and art educator who was arrested at Hanscom Field, is scheduled for trial on Tuesday, June 3. Like all remaining defendants, he faces charges of trespassing and disorderly conduct. Burger says, "I’m going to trial to raise public awareness about the dangers of the proposed Hanscom Field expansion. I have two teenage children. I worry about the world they are inheriting. I feel that I must do whatever I can to ensure a livable planet for my children and for all future generations."

Worldwide, private jet traffic for the most wealthy fraction of the population has exploded over the past several years, with a 46% increase in emissions from 2019-2023. During the same years, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that failure to rapidly and comprehensively reduce greenhouse gas emissions is destabilizing ecological systems and risks crossing irreversible tipping points that would mean widespread crop failure and famine. Continuing to enable the private jet industry in 2025 is a moral disgrace, and bringing criminal charges against those who sound the alarm is a craven attempt to silence dissent.