A video has been shared on Twitter which shows just how quickly police resources can become tied up as ‘Extinction Rebellion’ protesters are arrested and/or detained by the police.
In the 19 second video (below), 25 police officers can be seen keeping guard over protestors who appear to have been either detained or arrested by officers.
The video has been captioned: ‘The queue for the van’ (referring to the police vans which will be used to convey the detained persons to custody).
One Twitter user added:
‘XR know where the choke points are, it’s not the TSG, it’s the custody suite(s) capacity that dictates the tactics nowadays’.
The Met has imposed strict conditions on protestors who are taking part in a so-called “Honk for Hope” procession that is supposed to be held in Westminster today.
“Honk for “Hope” is a vehicle procession of coaches that will be passing by Parliament as they ‘honk’ their horns having converged on the location after starting from various points from across the capital.
The Met’s conditions mean that protestors are not allowed to stop – other than when obeying lawful traffic signals and directions – and they are forbidden from using certain roads which have detailed by the Met.
Speaking about the planned protests yesterday, Commander Jane Connors, the Gold Commander for London, said:
“Ahead of a number of planned environmental protests due to take place in central London tomorrow, we have decided to impose conditions under Section 12 and Section 14 of the Public Order Act (1986) on protesters looking to assemble, and those looking to go on a procession.
“The reason we have implemented these conditions is that we know these protests may result in serious disruption to local businesses, commuters and our communities and residents, which I will not tolerate.
“If you take part in tomorrow’s assembly or processions and knowingly fail to comply with these conditions, or incite others to fail to comply, you may commit an offence and may be liable to arrest.”
Talking about the protests, a spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion said:
“The government is failing to do what’s necessary to keep people safe. We are here, taking action because their criminal negligence is putting lives at risk.
“They must not be allowed to carry on like this. We have an opportunity to turn this sinking ship around, but we must act now, not next year, not in ten years. Now.
“You don’t need to be told by Extinction Rebellion how bad this crisis is.
“Just look around you, look at California, Brazil, Mauritius, Wales, your own backyard. Our world is unravelling, the collapse of civilisation is now a very real, near-term threat. It’s never been more clear that we are in a state of planetary emergency.
“The social contract between government and its citizens is broken.
“We refuse to be bystanders and wait for this emergency to push beyond the point of no return.
“While those in the global South burn, while our children are set to pay for our mistakes, while our most vulnerable in society suffer first and worst. This is why we act.
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I watched an interview earlier of one of the rebellious founders. She said she had to take her children to school but wasn’t asked how? Or how big her car was. I bet they didn’t walk !!!