The leader of the Extinction Rebellion in London has been arrested after police moved in, to clear Trafalgar Square where protesters have been camping since Monday, October 7th.
Gail Bradbrook, who co-founded the Extinction Rebellion (XR) movement, was arrested outside the UK’s Ministry of Transport. She had been leading a protest against the proposed high-speed rail project ‘HS2’.
Ms Bradbrook had climbed onto the top of the entrance to the transport ministry and put up a sign reading “HS2 is our climate emergency” above the entrance doors before allegedly trying to break the windows of the ministry with a hammer. Following this she was detained by the Met Police.
According got he Metro, in a statement the Extinction Rebellion said:
“Rebels have glued themselves to the building and co-founder, Gail Bradbrook has climbed on top of roof at entrance in civil disobedience due to our government complicit inaction on the climate and ecological emergency we are facing.”
During the course of the Extinction Rebellion in London which has now lasted over a week, over 1,400 people have been arrested.
Now following the week of disruptions, police are clearing out the protesterss and on Twitter XR’s London branch wrote
“Police are clearing peaceful protest in Trafalgar & Vauxhall.
They are back-tracking on promises made &, MEPs say, in contravention of UK law, in the national square.”
This is an emergency, and an outrage. The police must respect the law. This is a democracy.”
The XR London branch accepted that they will have to “let Trafalgar Square go tonight” but the movement insists that the “International Rebellion continues”.
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