Disrupt to Win: Help XR Boston Stop the Hanscom Airfield Expansion and Resist Fascism
Spring is shaping up to be eventful—and decisive. With your help, we can escalate pressure on Governor Healey and the Massachusetts political establishment to cancel the Hanscom Airfield private jet expansion before the end of this year. Our actions are shifting the Overton window and amplifying the climate science because the reality is clear—we need a full ban on all new fossil fuel infrastructure. We’re building toward a tipping point. But to get there, we need funds to fuel the disruption.
XR Boston took to the streets on Earth Day weekend to demand that Governor Healey stand up to the Trump administration and take bold climate action. On Saturday, April 26, we shut down two lanes of traffic on Boylston Street, marching through the heart of Boston to call for a full ban on fossil fuel expansion in Massachusetts. Just days earlier, Trump had frozen billions in climate and infrastructure funds with a sweeping executive order. That order was partially overturned by a federal judge on April 15—but it’s a sign of what’s to come under the new regime. Trump has declared war on environmental protections. We need Governor Healey to do more than issue statements. We need her to fight.
Last month, we carried out a disruption in solidarity with Tufts PhD student and columnist Rümeysa Öztürk, who was abducted by ICE agents in March and illegally detained. We called out “do-nothing Democrats” like Rep. Seth Moulton, who have failed to take meaningful action to secure her release. The Trump administration is already targeting immigrants, students, and activists as it consolidates power and tears down what little climate progress we’ve made. We refuse to let that happen quietly.
On May 1, ten XR rebels disrupted Governor Healey’s Commonwealth Environmental Leadership award at Earth Night hosted by the Environmental League of Massachusetts. The event billed Healey as an “environmental leader”. But Healey has yet to oppose the Hanscom expansion—a project that would erase 70% of Massachusetts’ climate gains from solar power. As Gina McCarthy, former EPA head and Biden’s national climate advisor, introduced the Governor, XR activists rose and demanded an answer: “Governor Healey, will you oppose the Hanscom Airfield expansion that reverses decades of climate progress in Massachusetts? Yes or No.” Healey refused to respond. Two of the rebels who disrupted that event are currently facing trial for their role in an earlier direct action at Hanscom Airfield.
Our first rebel to go on trial is Brian Okum. Brian is an exemplar of what the climate movement has to offer: deeply kind, grounded in reality, and committed to non-violence and community. The Middlesex County District Attorney has chosen to charge him with felony malicious destruction of property for participating in a peaceful protest. This is a dangerous escalation and a warning: the Commonwealth will criminalize constitutionally protected dissent to protect the billionaire class.
We’re doing everything we can to fight back. But organizing isn’t cheap. Just on the actions above, we’ve spent:
$3,000 on the Earth Day mass action—outreach contractors, posters, banners, and flyering
$1,700 for the Healey award disruption—tickets, action trainings, materials, and staff time
$5,000 to fund our Movement Growth Interns, who are reworking our recruitment systems, launching new affinity groups, and running phonebanking sessions to bring more people into the fight
If you want to see this momentum continue—if you want to see Governor Healey held accountable, the Hanscom expansion stopped, and new fossil fuel infrastructure banned in Massachusetts—please donate now. Every dollar you give builds the capacity for direct action, trial support, and rebel training.
We are building the resistance this moment demands. Fund disruption. Fight fossil fuels. Fight fascism.
XR Boston's fiscal sponsor is the Climate Direct Action Education Fund (CDA EF), EIN 99-3947166. CDA EF is an educational and charitable nonprofit corporation, currently tax-exempt pending under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
N.B. CDA EF’s 501(c)(3) status is still pending with the IRS. If our status is approved before April 15, 2026, your donation may be deductible. In that case, we will reach out to you with the necessary information to deduct your contribution.