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<h1 class="css-12oljxu">London police arrest activists ahead
of Extinction Rebellion protest</h1>
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<div class="css-7kp13n">By</div>
<div class="css-7ol5x1"><span class="css-1q5ec3n">Damien
Gayle</span></div>
<div class="css-8rl9b7">theguardian.com</div>
<div class="css-zskk6u">2 min</div>
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<figure> <img
src="https://pocket-image-cache.com//filters:no_upscale()/https%3A%2F%2Fi.guim.co.uk%2Fimg%2Fmedia%2Fefc881f8ad99a996c2f3e2d5e3f97125f354cff8%2F0_32_3500_2101%2Fmaster%2F3500.jpg%3Fwidth%3D300%26quality%3D85%26auto%3Dformat%26fit%3Dmax%26s%3Dd04f82783023063ea93fe0e83eca3409"
alt="Police detain a man during a raid on the
Extinction Rebellion storage facility.
Photograph: Simon Dawson/Reuters"> <figcaption>Police
detain a man during a raid on the Extinction
Rebellion storage facility.
Photograph: Simon Dawson/Reuters</figcaption>
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<p><a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/police"
data-link-name="auto-linked-tag"
data-component="auto-linked-tag"
target="_blank" rel="noopener
noreferrer">Police</a> have taken
pre-emptive action against environmental
protesters who are planning to cause
disruption in Westminster.</p>
<p>Dozens of officers from the Metropolitan
police’s territorial support group raided
a building in Kennington, south London,
where <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/extinction-rebellion"
data-link-name="auto-linked-tag"
data-component="auto-linked-tag"
target="_blank" rel="noopener
noreferrer">Extinction Rebellion</a>
activists were storing equipment to use in
a demonstration next week.</p>
<p>Protesters had said they planned to block
12 sites in Westminster from Monday
morning until their political demands were
met.</p>
<p>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 <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/london"
data-link-name="auto-linked-tag"
data-component="auto-linked-tag"
target="_blank" rel="noopener
noreferrer">London</a> for more than a
week.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Police used a battering ram to break into
the building, the former Lambeth county
court, after activists locked themselves
inside.</p>
<figure
data-canonical-url="https://twitter.com/damiengayle/status/1180474119390928896">
<blockquote>
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<span>Damien Gayle </span>
<span>(@damiengayle)</span>
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Police use a
battering ram to break into <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ExtinctionRebellion?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
data-link-name="in body link"
target="_blank" rel="noopener
noreferrer">#ExtinctionRebellion</a>
warehouse in Kennington, south London
<a href="https://t.co/szb98zlZgP"
data-link-name="in body link"
target="_blank" rel="noopener
noreferrer">pic.twitter.com/szb98zlZgP</a></p>
<a
href="https://twitter.com/damiengayle/status/1180474119390928896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
data-link-name="in body link"
target="_blank" rel="noopener
noreferrer">October 5, 2019</a>
</blockquote>
</figure>
<p>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.</p>
<p>“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.”</p>
<p>Activists said they were concerned at the
police decision to act pre-emptively
against them.</p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p>Scotland Yard has been approached for
comment.</p>
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