A coalition of Democrat-affiliated organizations and left-wing activists staged a protest outside the White House, using the tragic deaths of 27 Texas girls swept away in a July 4 flash flood at Camp Mystic to advance their climate and political agenda.
The group, which included representatives from Make Polluters Pay and The Parents’ Climate Community, organized a demonstration on the Ellipse featuring 27 painted camp trunks, each symbolizing one of the children who died in the flood.
The event included calls for increased federal investment in emergency response systems. Some groups criticized the timing and messaging of the protest.
“These are not the parents of the victims at Camp Mystic, by the way,” said True Texas Project, a grassroots organization. “These are activists using the deaths of 27 kids in Texas for their agenda. They should be ASHAMED!”
These are not the parents of the victims at Camp Mystic by the way
These are activists using the deaths of 27 kids in Texas for their agenda.
They should be ASHAMED! pic.twitter.com/Pou5ZpB2A1
— True Texas Project (@TrueTXProject) July 22, 2025
Among those leading the event was Cassidy DiPaola, a Democrat activist who serves as director of Fossil Free Media and spokesperson for the Make Polluters Pay Campaign. That group has called for increased federal funding for climate-related agencies, including the National Weather Service (NWS), NOAA, and FEMA — agencies they say have been underfunded due to Republican budget decisions.
DiPaola, who previously praised Democrats’ messaging at the 2024 DNC, told The New York Times last year that climate messaging must now be “woven throughout” all political communication.
Another speaker, Eileen McGinnis, founder of The Parents’ Climate Community in Austin — a group with more than 300 members — said, “I believe it’s vital to connect one of the worst disasters in Texas history to a larger story,” arguing that the effects of climate change disproportionately impact children around the world.
Outside the White House, #Texas parents held a powerful memorial: 27 camp trunks for 27 children lost in the floods.
Grateful to the courage of Eileen McGinnis & all mothers raising their voices in grief, demanding action to protect all children.
We stand with you. 💛
📷: @AP pic.twitter.com/nOsr4FjjdI
— Our Kids’ Climate (@OurKidsClimate) July 22, 2025
“We need more than thoughts and prayers, we need accountability. That’s why we’re here,” said Nyeka Arnold, with Austin-based The Healing Project. “Who’s responsible when families are left without shelter, food or power?”
Speakers criticized federal disaster preparedness policies, including past funding levels for FEMA and NOAA. No official investigations have linked agency funding decisions to the specific flooding incident in Kerr County.
Some social media users responded critically to the protest.
“They should be ashamed that you are using the deaths of these precious children to push your stupid agenda,” one user responded on X. “If they want to talk about cloud seeding or weather manipulation, fine — but don’t use these children as your prop!”
McGinnis has participated in campaigns supporting climate policy proposals that align with positions backed by Democratic lawmakers. Fossil Free Media, which helped organize the protest through its Make Polluters Pay campaign, also backs left-leaning environmental policies. The Sunrise Movement — a prominent Green New Deal–aligned group — has partnered on advocacy efforts under the “Make Polluters Pay” banner and is known for supporting Democrat-led climate legislation. These groups have consistently opposed fossil fuel development and promoted sweeping federal climate reforms.
None of the protesters are known to be directly related to the victims at Camp Mystic.
As grief continues in Texas, critics of the protest say the timing detracts from the mourning period and politicizes the tragedy.