W. Va. Sen. Joe Manchin confronted by climate group at Harvard - The Boston Globe

W. Va. Sen. Joe Manchin confronted by climate group at Harvard

A group of climate protesters disrupted a speaking event with Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia at Harvard on Friday, a confrontation that turned hostile as one demonstrator called Manchin an expletive and was thrown to the ground by a person who intervened, according to video of the incident.

The environmental group Climate Defiance posted the video on X, formerly Twitter, showing a group of about a half dozen demonstrators walking into a room at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, where Manchin had been invited to speak to a study group. Members of the group are heard criticizing Manchin over his support of the Mountain Valley Pipeline project.

Advertisement

The video, which was edited, shows one of the demonstrators criticizing Manchin as he sat at a table a few feet away.

“You sold our futures and got rich doing it, you sick [expletive],” the demonstrator says.

The remark drew Manchin quickly to his feet and he stepped toward the protester before a man got between them and placed a hand on the senator’s chest to stop him. That man then turned toward the protester, gripped his arm, and forcibly shoved him out the door and onto the ground.

The video then cut to Manchin speaking with other members of the group and asking if they’d like to sit somewhere and talk, but they declined, with one saying “I’m not going to sit down.”

“You’ve made millions, you’ve made millions out of your position, you drive a Maserati,” another protester says.

Manchin’s office did not return a message seeking comment Saturday.

A spokesperson for the Kennedy School said a Harvard University police officer “ordered the protesters to leave the Kennedy School campus, and the protesters complied,” and Manchin’s talk with the study group continued.

The spokesperson said the incident is under review by the Kennedy School and the Harvard University Police Department.

Advertisement

Climate Defiance is a “youth-led group using direct action to resist fossil fuels,” according to a description on the group’s X profile. Members of the group demonstrated at a Nantucket fundraiser attended by Governor Maura Healey last summer, where one member interrupted Healey’s speech and demanded she ban new fossil fuel projects in Massachusetts, according to Boston 25.

The 300-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline is under construction and would bring natural gas from West Virginia to southern Virginia, cutting a path through the Appalachian Mountains, a national forest, and hundreds of stream crossings. Approval of the $6.6 billion project was included in legislation last spring to raise the debt ceiling and was viewed as a concession made by the White House to Manchin for his support.

The project has drawn fierce opposition from environmental groups. Michael Greenberg, founder of Climate Defiance, said Friday’s demonstration at Harvard was a success. The video on X had been viewed more than 4.8 million times as of late Saturday.

“Manchin . . . has shoved down our throats the mountain valley pipeline in the midst of a climate emergency,” Greenberg said in a text message Saturday night.

Greenberg said he was not aware of any injuries during the confrontation at Harvard.

Manchin, who has represented West Virginia in the Senate since 2010, has said he will not seek reelection in November.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.

Advertisement

Nick Stoico can be reached at nick.stoico@globe.com.