Matthew Chattle / Barcroft Images / Barcroft Media via Getty Images(LONDON) — Over 300 climate change activists have been arrested during three days of demonstrations in London.
Protesters have been attempting to disrupt transportation in the city, including gluing themselves to trains and blocking off a major intersection at Waterloo Bridge.
The action is being led by the radical Extinction Rebellion group with the aim of moving governments worldwide to “take decisive action on the climate and ecological emergency.”
On Monday, police imposed a 24-hour “condition” on Waterloo Bridge and Oxford Circus, two of London’s busiest locations, to prevent protesters from gathering, but videos published on the Extinction Rebellion Twitter page show protests are still going strong.
The videos show activists singing and dancing, as well as some being dragged away and arrested by police.
What are the police doing?
“This is a human rights issue. You should not be arresting us. What are you doing? Why are you doing it? Long live Extinction Rebellion!”
The corporations destroying the earth reside here. Let us act in solidarity.#InternationalRebellion pic.twitter.com/t5MoNgbolu
— Extinction Rebellion ????⌛️???? (@ExtinctionR) April 17, 2019
Loving the vibe on #WaterlooBridge #ExtinctionRebellion pic.twitter.com/RBtFkhpUui
— Andrew Harmer (@andrew_harmer) April 16, 2019
Meanwhile, one activist glued himself to a train window in Canary Wharf, one of London’s busiest financial centers, and two activists glued themselves to the top of the train unfurling a banner that read “Climate Emergency.”
BREAKING: #ExtinctionRebellion activists peacefully lock on to London’s DLR overground trains in Canary Wharf, the city’s financial hub. pic.twitter.com/MvphBz7aAT
— Extinction Rebellion ????⌛️???? (@ExtinctionR) April 17, 2019
Two men and one woman were arrested “on suspicion of obstructing the railway” after specialist teams “trained in protest removal” arrived on the scene, British Transport Police said in a statement.
And the protests could continue for the foreseeable future, according to Extinction Rebellion activist Roger Hallam, who said they were protesting to “inform the British people that they will die if we do not stop the government from putting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.”
“We are in ongoing rebellion against the government,” he told ABC News. “It will end when we get the demands met. This particular mobilization will continue for one to two weeks depending on whether many people join in mass civil disobedience.”
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, said Tuesday while he shared the protesters’ “passion” for the need to tackle climate change, he was “extremely concerned” by the disruption to London’s public transport.
“It’s one of the biggest challenges we face — and Governments around the world are failing to take the action we need,” he said in a statement. “However … targeting public transport in this way would only damage the cause of all of us who want to tackle climate change, as well as risking Londoners’ safety, and I’d implore anyone considering doing so to think again.”
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