Disruption caused by climate crisis will be much worse: Shayok Mukhopadhyay
- Headline
Arun Kumar- 0
- 4 minutes read
An Indian American climate protester who superglued his bare feet to the stadium floor to bring a US Open semifinal match to a halt says what he did is nothing compared to the disruption caused by the climate crisis.
“We achieved a significant disruption in business as usual,” activist Shayok Mukhopadhyay, 50, of White Plains, New York told Gothamist by phone on Friday, a day after he and other protesters chanted for their cause in the upper stands.
“And people have to understand, like, you know, the disruption that I did is nothing compared to the disruption caused by the climate crisis,” he said.
Mukhopadhyay and his fellow protesters represent the group Extinction Rebellion NYC. They claimed they weren’t protesting tennis’s role in fossil fuel emissions, but rather the government’s weak response to the climate crisis.
Mukhopadhyay told Gothamist he works as an artist and documentary filmmaker. He was spurred into climate activism three years ago after visiting his family in the Bengal region of India, where he said people who have little impact on climate change are unfairly bearing the brunt of pollution from wealthier countries.
In choosing to protest at the US Open semifinals, he said his group was looking for a way to catch as much attention as possible. The annual Queens tournament is one of the premier events in professional tennis and draws a global audience.
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When the fracas and resulting police response caused the match to be delayed by almost an hour, fans weren’t happy – and Mukhopadhyay said he wasn’t surprised.
“I think tennis fans, especially in the section where I was sitting, come from a very privileged section of society. And so they are fairly insulated from climate disasters,” he was quoted as saying.
“I didn’t expect them to be pleased. I mean, they would not be pleased if there was a two-hour rain delay. Right?”
Mukhopadhyay declined to go into detail about what exactly he used to glue his feet to the floor, saying he wanted to “focus on the big picture.” He said first responders used some sort of solvent to unstick him.
He said he wasn’t physically injured by the stunt, but added that he was disturbed when the NYPD forced him into a psychiatric evaluation.
“I thought this only happened in the former Soviet Union, to try to paint people who politically disagree with the government as crazy people,” he said.
The incident unfolded around 8 pm Thursday night. Videos shared on social media show two men and a woman standing up and shouting from their seats in the upper stands, wearing shirts that say “End Fossil Fuels.”
They were met with a chorus of boos from surrounding spectators as a security guard threatened to kick them out.
Police eventually responded and escorted the protesters away, though responders had to step in to safely unstick Mukhopadhyay from his spot, according to the NYPD. It’s unclear how exactly they did that. Police said they arrested Mukhopadhyay for trespassing and disorderly conduct.
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The group said its aims include wanting the Biden administration to “tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency,” halting biodiversity loss, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025.
“Tennis-as-usual won’t be possible on a planet in which humanity fails to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius. If activists don’t disrupt these games, the climate will,” said Extinction Rebellion spokesperson Mun Chong in a written statement to Gothamist.