[D66] London police arrest activists ahead of Extinction Rebellion protest

[A.OUT]

  London police arrest activists ahead of Extinction Rebellion protest

By
Damien Gayle
theguardian.com
2 min
View Original
<https://getpocket.com/redirect?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fenvironment%2F2019%2Foct%2F05%2Flondon-police-arrest-extinction-rebellion-activists-in-advance-of-environment-protest%3FCMP%3Dshare_btn_tw>

Police detain a man during a raid on the Extinction Rebellion storage
facility. Photograph: Simon Dawson/Reuters Police detain a man during a
raid on the Extinction Rebellion storage facility. Photograph: Simon
Dawson/Reuters

Police <https://www.theguardian.com/uk/police> have taken pre-emptive
action against environmental protesters who are planning to cause
disruption in Westminster.

Dozens of officers from the Metropolitan police’s territorial support
group raided a building in Kennington, south London, where Extinction
Rebellion <https://www.theguardian.com/environment/extinction-rebellion>
activists were storing equipment to use in a demonstration next week.

Protesters had said they planned to block 12 sites in Westminster from
Monday morning until their political demands were met.

Earlier this week, police had promised to be more agile and assertive in
dealing with the group after their demonstrations in April shut down
parts of London <https://www.theguardian.com/uk/london> for more than a
week.

Activists who had begun to try moving equipment from the Kennington site
in vans on Saturday were arrested and their vehicles and any equipment
inside were impounded. Eight people were arrested, the group said.

Police used a battering ram to break into the building, the former
Lambeth county court, after activists locked themselves inside.


    Damien Gayle (@damiengayle)

    Police use a battering ram to break into #ExtinctionRebellion
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/ExtinctionRebellion?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
    warehouse in Kennington, south London pic.twitter.com/szb98zlZgP
    <https://t.co/szb98zlZgP>

    October 5, 2019
    <https://twitter.com/damiengayle/status/1180474119390928896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>


Caroline Vincent, who works in police liaison for Extinction Rebellion,
said: “Police don’t want us to move equipment out which is considered
infrastructure because they think it’s going to be used to commit a
crime, and the crime is blocking the highway.

“So pita and pans are considered to be equipment that will be used to
commit a crime; cushions too, apparently. The only things we are allowed
to move away are first aid kits, milk and fliers.”

Activists said they were concerned at the police decision to act
pre-emptively against them.

Richard Ecclestone, a former police officer who has joined the group,
said: “These tactics are very questionable and are arguably infringing
on our rights to peaceful protest, and indeed our efforts to preserve
people’s right to life that is currently being jeopardised by the
government failing to act on the climate and ecological emergency that
they know exists.”

Scotland Yard has been approached for comment.

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