Protesters rallying against BlackRock's alleged "financing of the climate crisis" painted streets and scaled San Francisco's Salesforce Transit Center on Friday, part of a larger, global climate demonstration in several locations.
The few that ascended the Transit Center had rock climbing gear and displayed a large banner across the white façade accusing BlackRock of making investments that "set the world on fire from California to Amazon."
Using bright yellow paint, the group painted a block-long "Defund Climate Change" mural at the intersection at 1st St. and Howard St., just in front of the BlackRock building at 400 Howard St. The mural was painted partly using ashes collected from California wildfires, including the deadly Camp Fire in Paradise, according to the group.
Several protesters also blocked the entrance to BlackRock's facility throughout the day, a news release said.
"We apologize for the inconvenience but the climate crisis is going to inconvenience all of us increasingly as we go forward," said a man who only identified himself as Jade.
Multiple groups were part of the rally, including victims of various California wildfires, indigenous leaders, at least 100 students and climate activists. Protesters told KCBS Radio's Margie Shafer they had been planning the event – which got underway at 9 a.m. on Friday – for two months.
A stretch of 1st St. between Mission St. and Folsom St. remained closed during the demonstration and afterwards as San Francisco city crews wiped streets clean of paint.
Among locations seeing rallies on Friday: Boston, Seattle and the United Kingdom. According to the group, "demonstrations were taking place on every continent except Antarctica."
When reached on Friday, BlackRock officials declined to comment for this story. KCBS Radio has also reached out to PG&E but has not yet heard back.
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