Extinction Rebellion says federal law enforcement has moved from watching its protests to knocking on members' doors. On Wednesday the climate group said it is now the focus of a federal U.S. investigation after members in several cities were approached by FBI agents, which it is calling an escalation with real free speech implications. The group says the agents are tied to the FBI's task force on extremism, and both activists and lawyers warn the outreach could put a chill on nonviolent protest. Chapters in New York and Boston have gone public with their worries while the broader movement figures out its next move.
The group said two special agents from the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force visited a former member of Extinction Rebellion NYC at their residence on the evening of February 6, 2026, roughly 200 miles outside New York City. It also said agents identifying themselves as FBI officials attempted to question six activists tied to Extinction Rebellion Boston in March 2025, according to Reuters.
Those earlier Boston contacts left local organizers unnerved, reporters found when they spoke with activists and attorneys in 2025. Lawyers who represented the Massachusetts protesters told WBUR the visits were highly unusual for people engaged in nonviolent civil disobedience and offered little explanation for why they had been approached, the station reported.
What Activists And Lawyers Say
Organizers and attorneys say the outreach can have a chilling effect even when no charges are filed. One activist told reporters the visit to his home felt "creepy," and attorneys with long experience defending climate protesters said they had not previously seen routine FBI visits to peaceful organizers, WBUR reported. That unease has already pushed some groups to tighten security and consult lawyers about what, if anything, to tell federal agents who come calling.
Federal Policy And Civil Liberties
Rights groups warn that these FBI knocks do not exist in a vacuum but sit against the backdrop of NSPM-7 and recent Justice Department guidance, which critics say expand the scenarios in which federal counterterror powers can be used. Reporting by The Guardian shows internal FBI materials tied to that policy have already prompted alarm among civil liberties advocates. Lawyers caution that the vague "indicators" cited in such documents could pull ordinary organizing into the sphere of federal scrutiny.
What The FBI Says And Next Steps
The FBI told reporters it can "neither confirm nor deny" the existence of specific investigations, a standard Justice Department line that leaves the scope unclear. That limited comment, combined with the group's public statement about visits, makes it difficult to say whether the outreach is a full-fledged probe or preliminary interviews, Reuters reported.
For now, chapters in New York and Boston say they will keep up nonviolent direct action while insisting on transparency about any federal scrutiny. Local reporting from Boston found activists vowing to keep protesting despite the visits, as WGBH reported.
