Extinction Rebellion, the climate protest that has blocked major London thoroughfares since Monday April 15, was cleared from three key areas over Easter weekend, The Guardian reported.
Police removed protesters from Oxford Circus Saturday, and from the roads Parliament Square and Waterloo Bridge Sunday. The last person to be arrested clearing the bridge was a 70-year-old woman who had been arrested once before during the protests at Oxford Circus.
“I have been a nurse and a childminder most of my life,” the woman, who preferred not to give her name, told The Press Association. “The world we are leaving for the children and grandchildren is going to be horrendous and we let it happen. It happened on our watch. So we have to stand up and fight or lie down and fight.”
Despite the loss of the three sites, the movement is far from over. On Monday afternoon, around 100 protesters staged a die-in at London’s Natural History Museum to call attention to the sixth mass extinction, BBC News reported.
Mass #ExtinctionRebellion‘ die-in’ at @NHM_London – this is happening right now (…and so is the #SixthMassExtinction) pic.twitter.com/Tv69D7N0c8
— Extinction Rebellion 🐝⌛️🦋 (@ExtinctionR) April 22, 2019
Protesters also continue to gather at Marble Arch, where they were addressed Sunday by 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who has been credited with inspiring the youth climate strike movement.
“Keep going. You are making a difference,” Thunberg said, as BBC News reported Sunday.
The protesters are calling for the government to “tell the truth about climate change,” to reduce UK greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025 and to create a citizen’s assembly to help drive the process. They aim to maximize arrests in order to call attention to the climate crisis.
Our demands
— Extinction Rebellion 🐝⌛️🦋 (@ExtinctionR) April 21, 2019
1 #TellTheTruth – Declare a climate and ecological emergency.
2 #ActNow – Halt biodiversity loss and go net #ZeroCarbon2025.
3 #BeyondPolitics – A #CitizensAssembly for climate and ecological justice.https://t.co/LAcU4nmAIP pic.twitter.com/1aAsk3Ntyy
According to the most recent BBC figures, the protest has led to 1,065 arrests so far, among them Olympic gold medalist Etienne Stott. Fifty-three people have actually been charged. Met Commissioner Cressida Dick said that she had never seen a single police operation lead to so many arrests in her 36-year career. London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that more than 9,000 police officers had responded since the protest began.
On Sunday, Khan, who has spoken in favor of climate action and has committed to divesting London from fossil fuels, urged the protesters to let London return to “business as usual” in a statement Sunday.
“I’m extremely concerned about the impact these protests are having on our ability to tackle issues like violent crime if they continue any longer,” he said. “It simply isn’t right to put Londoners’ safety at risk like this.”
UPDATE: My message to all the climate change protestors today is clear: let London return to business as usual. pic.twitter.com/2o5jwbwLC2
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) April 21, 2019
In an update
on their website Monday, Extinction Rebellion said the protests would
enter a new phase in their second week. Protesters held a people’s
assembly at 3 p.m. at Marble Arch to decide on next steps. They were
then planning to offer free food from 5 p.m.
“We fully recognise Extinction Rebellion has caused disruption for many Londoners, so we are extending our love through food to all who would like to join us,” the group wrote on a Facebook event for the planned “Earth Feast.”
Sky reported that future plans included marching to Parliament Square Tuesday morning for an action lasting through Wednesday, then marching to London’s financial district on Thursday.
The group declared the first phase of its protest a success.
“This success can be expressed in numbers: at the most conservative estimate we’ve welcomed 30,000 new members, and have received almost £300,000 in crowdfunding, the great majority of donations being around of £10,” they wrote.
In an update
on their website Monday, Extinction Rebellion said the protests would
enter a new phase in their second week. Protesters held a people’s
assembly at 3 p.m. at Marble Arch to decide on next steps. They were
then planning to offer free food from 5 p.m.
“We fully recognise Extinction Rebellion has caused disruption for many Londoners, so we are extending our love through food to all who would like to join us,” the group wrote on a Facebook event for the planned “Earth Feast.”
Sky reported that future plans included marching to Parliament Square Tuesday morning for an action lasting through Wednesday, then marching to London’s financial district on Thursday.
The group declared the first phase of its protest a success.
“This success can be expressed in numbers: at the most conservative estimate we’ve welcomed 30,000 new members, and have received almost £300,000 in crowdfunding, the great majority of donations being around of £10,” they wrote.
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