Crime & Safety
Protesters Of Vanguard Climate Change Policy Face Hearing In November
Climate activists were charged with defiant trespassing after refusing to leave Vanguard's campus in the Malvern, police said.
MALVERN, PA —Seven protestors of Vanguard’s climate change policy are facing preliminary hearings next month, each charged with defiant trespassing for refusing to leave the outside of a building on Vanguard’s campus, according to court records.
A small group of activists from Earth Quaker Action Team and Extinction Rebellion Philly stood outside the door of a Vanguard office on Sept. 21 with a banner saying, “Vanguard Stewards Climate Destruction.”
Charged with defiant trespassing are Frederick Robinson, 71, Nancy Sleator, 72, Johannah Cordonhill, 30, all of Lansdowne, Delaware County; Eric Moss, 60, of Jenkintown and Richard Cole 59 of West Norriton, Montgomery County; Walter Sullivan, 62 of Philadelphia; and Jean Vanorman, 83 of Pennington, N.J.
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Preliminary hearings are scheduled Nov. 4 before District Justice Analisa Sondergaard in Wayne.
Defiant trespassing is a misdemeanor of the third degree. The maxium penalty is a year in prison and a $2,500 fine.
Police said they entered Vanguard’s headquarters in the Malvern section of Tredyffrin Township without permission and refused to leave the property after being told several times to do so.
Find out what's happening in Malvernfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The group was hoping to meet with John Galloway, Global Head of Investment Stewardship.
During the last year, the group has staged several protests against Vanguard's investing in fossil fuel companies.
The last protest was on Friday Oct. 7 outside of the Main Line home of Tim Buckley, CEO of Vanguard.
Nearly 50 activists sat on folding chairs outside Buckley's home urging the CEO to encourage fossil fuel companies to shift their goals.
“We are bringing the urgency of the climate crisis to Tim Buckley’s doorstep,” Carolyn McCoy, a Philadelphia Quaker and one of the group’s founders, said of the silent protest.
Vanguard, meanwhile, has a website outlining the company's approach to climate change.
The activists had a much larger protest on Earth Day with 100 people holding banners last April outside the company's headquarters.
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