Van Gogh Sunflowers painting doused with tomato soup by anti-oil protesters
Two anti-oil environmentalist protesters hurled tomato soup on Van Goghs "Sunflowers" painting at Londons National Gallery Friday. (APTN)
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's political action committee has passed thousands of dollars to an environmental organization funding disruptive climate protest groups, records reviewed by Fox News Digital show.
Courage to Change, the New York Democrat's PAC, directed a $9,000 donation to the Los Angeles-based Climate Emergency Fund (CEF) in the fall of 2021, according to federal filings. The CEF finances far-left groups worldwide that undertake radical tactics to draw attention to what they say is a rapidly warming planet on the brink of destruction if aggressive policies are not pursued.
"We're in this kind of surreal situation in which scientists are telling us this is the point of no return," Margaret Klein Salamon, CEF's executive director, previously said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital. "And yet all of our institutions — they're all just marching forward with a little bit of window dressing talk about sustainability, but basically continuing as usual."
"So these activists intervene and they say, 'Things are not normal. They're so bad that I'm gonna do this crazy thing and glue myself to a painting or a frame,'" Salamon continued. "It only makes sense because of how absolutely terrible the climate emergency is."
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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez's leadership PAC, Courage to Change, directed thousands of dollars to the Climate Emergency Fund, which bankrolls disruptive environmental protest groups. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
As part of its operations, CEF has provided millions of dollars to radical groups that have engaged in disruptive protests. CEF's grantees include the A22 Network, which consists of the U.K.-based Just Stop Oil, the U.S.-based Declare Emergency and groups in nine countries, including Canada, France and Germany.
Late last year, London police arrested Just Stop Oil activists after they threw tomato soup on a famous Vincent van Gogh painting worth millions of dollars.
"What use is art when we face the collapse of civil society?" Just Stop Oil said in a statement following the action. "The art establishment, artists and the art-loving public need to step up into Civil Resistance if they want to live in a world where humans are around to appreciate art."
Just Stop Oil has often organized demonstrations where its members glue themselves to celebrated paintings. The group's activists have also blocked primary roads and highways in the U.K., sometimes forcing emergency vehicles to take different routes to their destination.
The CEF's cash ultimately ends up with several other groups like Just Stop Oil.
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Supporters of "Just Stop Oil" glue themselves to the frame of a Vincent van Gogh painting. (Just Stop Oil)
Ocasio-Cortez's donation to the CEF aligns with her position as a staunch environmental activist and Green New Deal champion. The progressive firebrand's leadership PAC, which did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment, is the only federal committee to donate to the CEF since its formation in 2019, according to the Federal Election Commission database.
While Ocasio-Cortez's donation signals support for CEF's mission, it pales in comparison to its affluent billionaire benefactors. Aileen Getty, an environmental philanthropist who is the granddaughter of Getty Oil founder J. Paul Getty, is the founding donor of the CEF and provided it with $500,000 shortly after its launch, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
A Just Stop Oil protester jumps on the table and throws orange powder during the match between Robert Milkins and Joe Perry during day three of the Cazoo World Snooker Championship April 17, 2023. (Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)
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Hollywood celebrities and left-wing foundations have also funneled cash to the CEF. Actors Jeremy Strong and Thomas Middleditch have supported the fund alongside the charitable vehicles of Democratic donors, including one led by entrepreneur Susie Tompkins Buell, the Washington Examiner previously reported.
Fox News Digital's Thomas Catenacci contributed reporting.
