EPA headquarters arrests exceed 1,000 under federal trespass statutes

Over 1,000 protesters were arrested at EPA headquarters and regional offices on March 8, 2025, when activists blocked entrances to demand reversal of pollution-standard eliminations (Climate Action Campaign tracker: https://www.actonclimate.com/trumptracker/).

Extinction Rebellion and Sunrise Movement led the coordinated civil disobedience campaigns targeting EPA offices beginning March 8, 2025, with scientists, teachers and parents risking arrest to defend environmental protections (Earth Day protest coverage: https://www.outlookbusiness.com/explainers/earth-day-2025-trump-climate-protests).

On March 12, 2025, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced what he called “the biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history,” advancing 31 actions to roll back environmental safeguards (EPA press release: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-launches-biggest-deregulatory-action-us-history).

As part of that rollback, Zeldin canceled 400 environmental justice-related grants—despite a court order barring the administration from freezing equity-based grants—and ordered closure of environmental justice offices at headquarters and all 10 regional EPA offices (Climate Action Campaign tracker: https://www.actonclimate.com/trumptracker/).

Analysts cited by protesters estimate the targeted rules would prevent 30,000 premature deaths and save $275 billion in annual health costs if maintained, figures drawn from EPA’s prior assessments and independent research (AP News analysis: https://apnews.com/article/epa-zeldin-pollution-rules-analysis-savings-health-0a289aec2507ed38d386680afdd0ea45).