Extinction Rebellion: Police move in on London protesters
http://www.hrlnews.com/2019/04/extinction-rebellion-police-move-in-on.html
Hundreds of police officers have
closed in on Extinction Rebellion protesters in central London as
demonstrations entered a fifth day.
Officers surrounded a pink
boat in Oxford Circus as actress Dame Emma Thompson told activists her
generation had "failed young people".
More than 570 people have been arrested at protests this week in Oxford Circus, Parliament Square and Waterloo Bridge
Dame Emma joined the protests after flying from Los Angeles on Thursday.
She
said: "We are here in this little island of sanity and it makes me so
happy to be able to join you all and to add my voice to the young people
here who have inspired a whole new movement."
Police wearing
jackets saying "protester removal team" have begun carrying and leading
activists away from the protest in Oxford Circus.
One woman was carried out the cordons by four officers while a man led was away by two more.
Under the blazing sun, people were handing out water and
asking if anyone wanted sun screen, some shielding themselves from the
heat with rainbow-striped umbrellas.
But this is a bank holiday gathering with a difference, between police and activists converged at the centre of Oxford Circus.
The
atmosphere has been good natured, with protesters offering sun cream to
officers and chatting to them as a drum beats and colourful flags
flutter in the slight breeze.
Every now and then, whistles and
cheers have gone up as protesters have been carried away to waiting
police vans, with shouts of "climate justice now".
The drone of a
police helicopter overhead intermingles with the drilling of bolt
cutters being used to remove those who have attached themselves to the
pink boat that's been central to the protest here.
It seems it may be a long process, with activists determined to sit it out for the cause they so strongly believe in.
Protests
are still being held at Waterloo Bridge and Parliament Square. The Met
Police said officers had been working 12-hour shifts and have had leave
cancelled.
It comes as a small group of demonstrators staged a protest at Heathrow Airport amid threats to disrupt flights over Easter.
Protesters stood by the tunnel leading to Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3, but all roads remain open.
However, Robin Ellis-Cockcroft, 24, said the group had succeeded in
creating an "emotional disruption" at Heathrow, adding that no further
Extinction Rebellion protests would take place on Friday.
Ken
Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, said: "This is
very, very difficult for us because my colleagues have never come across
the situation that they are faced with at the moment.
"They are
dealing with very, very passive people, probably quite nice people, who
don't want confrontation whatsoever with the police or anyone else but
are breaking the law."
Environmental activists have also been in action in other parts of the world.
In
Paris, they blocked the entrance of the Societe Generale bank
headquarters, as part of a protest urging world leaders to act on
climate change.
Pepper spray was used by anti-riot police in an attempt to disperse the demonstrators.
Activists
also gathered outside the Ministry of the Ecological and Inclusive
Transition in La Defense, near Paris, and blocked the entrance of the
headquarters of French oil giant Total there.