(Washington, D.C., April 7, 2025) – The conviction today of a peaceful climate protester on charges of conspiracy against the United States for putting washable finger paint on the protective case of a statue in the National Gallery shows the disproportionate lengths to which U.S. authorities are willing to go to penalize civil disobedience aimed at stopping climate change, Climate Rights International said today.

Timothy Martin was convicted in federal court on two felony charges of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and damage to federal property and faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count. Sentencing is scheduled for August 22, 2025.  

Martin and other peaceful climate activists were featured in Climate Rights International’s September 2024 report, “On Thin Ice: Disproportionate Responses to Climate Change Protesters in Democratic Countries.” The report documented the use of disproportionate penalties, aggressive police tactics, preventative detention, and extreme restrictions on protest rights in a number of Western democracies, including the United States.

“In a country where oil executives enjoy legal immunity despite decades of documented harm, it’s revealing that a father who smeared fingerpaint on a glass case is facing up to five years in prison,” Trevor Stankiewicz, Legal Fellow at Climate Rights International said. “People who engage in civil disobedience expect some consequences, but being charged with conspiracy against the United States and facing many years in prison is absurd. These excessive charges are a major threat to basic democratic freedoms.”

Along with fellow activist Joanna Smith, on April 27, 2023, Martin smeared washable fingerpaint on the protective case of Edgar Degas’ Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. Martin and Smith have said that they chose Little Dancer as a symbol of youth and the future. Their hands were coated in black and red washable paint, representing oil and blood, as they urged the U.S. government to take meaningful action to curb fossil fuel emissions. “We need our leaders to take serious action, to tell us the truth about what is happening with the climate,” they told onlookers before being arrested. The statue was not damaged during their protest.

In a statement to Climate Rights International explaining his decision to take part in the protest, Martin said:

“When I was asked to do this action, it was a no-brainer. Yes, because I come from an art background and the little dancer is so, so beautiful and she represents the children of the world that are under major threat because of the climate emergency. So, I could not resist the opportunity to turn her beautiful, vulnerable, symbolic self into a message [against] fossil fuel.”

Despite the nonviolent nature of the demonstration, both were charged with two felonies. Smith accepted a plea deal and was sentenced to 60 days in prison, along with fines and other restrictions. Martin went to trial and, on April 7, 2025, was found guilty of both charges.

In the cases of Martin and Smith, the court imposed serious restrictions on their freedom of movement prior to trial. Each was required to turn in their passports and check in with authorities on a weekly basis, and was forbidden from setting foot in any museum or the District of Columbia. Since her guilty plea, Joanna Smith has been banned from entering Washington, D.C., all museums, and all national monuments for two years. These restrictions are excessive and serve to deter others from engaging in peaceful protest, Climate Rights International said.

Martin’s trial also comes at a time when the United States has abandoned all official efforts to address the climate crisis, with the Trump administration accelerating the use of fossil fuels, withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, scrubbing the term “climate change” from government websites, breaking contracts with organizations addressing climate change, and gutting environmental protections.

The prosecution of climate activists like Martin reflects a growing trend of severe penalties for nonviolent protest. In the last year alone, the United Kingdom and Germany have set records for the longest prison sentences for peaceful climate protesters.

Climate Rights International called on the United States and other governments to take steps to:

• Protect the right to peaceful protest;
• Adopt proactive measures to support safe and responsible demonstrations;
• Amend or repeal laws that target peaceful protesters; and
• Allow evidence of being motivated by climate change and adopt legislation creating a public interest defense in legal proceedings involving climate protesters.

“The U.S. government is sending a dangerous signal: peaceful protest will be met with prison time, while those responsible for accelerating the climate crisis continue to receive government subsidies and tax breaks,” said Stankiewicz. “The message is clear: those sounding the alarm on climate catastrophe are a bigger threat to the system than those fueling it. Instead of jailing climate protesters and undermining civil liberties, governments should heed their call to take urgent action to address the climate crisis.”