Drivers’ fury after it took 80 officers and 20 police vehicles nearly an hour to remove 62 Just Stop Oil eco zealots – despite arriving on scene in just four minutes
- Activists ‘slow marched’ across three carriageways around Parliament Square
A driver has told of his fury after it took 80 officers and 20 police vehicles nearly an hour to remove 62 Just Stop Oil eco zealots.
The activists appeared to be ‘playing dead’ as officers were forced to drag their slumped bodies into the back of police vans in central London.
They ‘slow marched’ across all three carriageways around Parliament Square at 10am this morning, causing traffic gridlock and taking police around 40 minutes to tackle the issue.
A van driver and a coach pushed past the Just Stop Oil road blockade, while a taxi driver told the eco-zealots: ‘You’re disgusting, all of you – my passengers have got a train to catch.’
The taxi driver told The Telegraph: ‘Not only have we had the Palestinian march at the weekend causing havoc, now we’ve got this – costing people money – and I’ve got a police officer taking photos of my cab like I’m in the wrong.’
Metropolitan Police Events explained that police arrived at the scene within four minutes after being made aware of the march
Just Stop Oil activists appeared to be ‘playing dead’ as officers were forced to drag their slumped bodies into the back of police vans in central London
Protestors were filmed using their bodies as deadweights during the incident this morning
Scotland Yard said in a statement that it had made 62 arrests under section seven of the Public Order Act and ‘arrived four minutes after receiving the initial report’.
Protestors were filmed using their bodies as deadweights as up to three officers at a time picked them up and carried them into the back of vans.
Footage, filmed outside the Palace of Westminster, shows a horde of activists opening up placards in the street and beginning to trudge down the road.
It is the first day of the campaign group’s planned three weeks of action across London which they claim will cause mayhem on an ‘unprecedented scale’.
In one video, a stone-faced handcuffed woman sits on the ground, holding her arms up in front or her. As three police officers try to pick her up, she remains stiff.
One older woman is filmed as she sits limp against a wall, with her head falling on her chest
A protestor is lying on the pavement holding a leaflet as an officer appears to forcefully roll him on to his front so he can be handcuffed
As three officers try to pick her up, she remains stiff, but they manage to put her in the van
It is the first day of the campaign group’s planned three weeks of action across London
The three officers struggle to move her, but manage to drag her towards a nearby police van and put her in the back with the help of a fourth officer.
READ MORE: They’re back! Moment van driver begs ‘please let me by’ as Just Stop Oil brings traffic to a halt in central London as eco activists kick off three weeks of disruption hell
In another clip, three officers pick up a man and carry him to a police van as protesters are heard shouting in the background, encouraging people to join Just Stop Oil.
One older woman is filmed as she sits limp, rag-doll-style against a wall, with her head on her chest and hair covering her face.
She holds her arms behind her back as two officers seem to handcuff her.
One young protester speaks to the camera, explaining: ‘I am here today because I don’t have a choice.
‘The Government knows that issuing new gas and oil licences is a death project.
‘It is an act of war against young people.’
The footage then zooms out to show she is sitting on the floor, handcuffed, with a police officer next to her.
In another clip, a protestor is lying on the pavement holding a leaflet as an officer appears to forcefully roll him on to his front so he can be handcuffed.
In another clip, three officers pick up a man and carry him to a police van as protesters are heard shouting in the background, encouraging people to join Just Stop Oil
One protester speaks to camera, explaining: ‘I am here today because I don’t have a choice’
In one video, a handcuffed woman sits on the ground, holding her arms up in front of her
A passer-by is shown to step in, saying ‘hey, hey, hey’ – but the officer tells her to ‘step away’
A member of the public is shown to step in, saying ‘hey, hey, hey’ but the officer tells her to ‘step away’.
She calls the officer’s actions ‘violent’ and tells him it is ‘unacceptable’ in the video.
The passerby remains standing next to the officer as he gestures for assistance.
Earlier this morning, the slow march caused disruption to traffic and a van driver was filmed begging them to let him past.
After asking the protesters to leave the road and let him by, the van driver is seen being approached and spoken to by a member of the group, who condescendingly tells him they have ‘no choice’ but to act.
Just Stop Oil protesters employ their latest tactic as they play dead slumped against the wall
The protestors are filmed deploying what seems to be their latest method of ‘playing dead’ in footage of their slow march in central London this morning
It is the first incident of the campaign group’s planned three weeks of action across London which they claim will cause disruption on an ‘unprecedented scale’
A protester lies motionless on the road as a police officer handcuffs them
Just Stop Oil activists lay on the pavement and police struggled to move their stiff bodies
The Met Police has written to members of the group ahead of its new campaign of protests later this month, asking to work together to ‘ensure any protest activity is lawful’
As the group walk down the road, a chorus of car horns can be heard being tooted as the traffic along the busy central London road ground to a halt.
The Met Police has written to members of the group ahead of its new campaign of protests later this month, asking to work together to ‘ensure any protest activity is lawful’.
As of last week, the Met said it had not yet received a response.
The latest action is the first major Just Stop Oil development since the group’s summer of disruption that saw them target major sporting and cultural events such as the Ashes and Chelsea Flower Show.
On both occasions, the actions of the group were thwarted by members of the public and in the case of the Ashes, Jonny Bairstow himself, who was filmed lifting a protester off the Lords pitch.
Speaking on today’s action, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: ‘Officers arrived within four minutes of receiving the initial report.
‘We have put in a Section Seven. Officers are continuing to make arrests under Section Seven of the Public Order Act.
‘The road is cleared and traffic is beginning to move freely.’
After begging with the protesters to leave the road, the van driver is approached by an activist
Just Stop Oil have began to slow march in Westminster this morning for their next campaign
The group has vowed to march for three weeks and cause ‘unprecedented disruption’
Police say the protest was being sorted out by officers within four minutes
Just Stop Oil have claimed that all 65 activists at the demonstration have been arrested
The group has said it will march for three weeks from today to demand an end to fossil fuels
A Just Stop Oil spokesman said: ‘Just Stop Oil supporters are willing to slow march to the point of arrest today, and every day until the police take action to prosecute the real criminals – the people who are facilitating new oil and gas when they know that to do so will kill hundreds of millions of people.
JSO petrol station vandals escape jail
JSO activists who invaded a motorway service station, smashed up all the petrol pumps and glued themselves to the top of a fuel tanker and to the forecourt tarmac, have all been given suspended prison sentences by a judge.
The demonstrators, 16 of whom were arrested, caused more than £100,000 damage to the forecourt and petrol and diesel pumps at the Cobham Services on the M25 in Surrey. One of them died before the case came to court.
Six of them were sentences at Lewes Crown Court and all received jail terms, suspended.
‘Just in the last week, seven people have died in the UK as a result of extreme weather and scientists are telling us it will only get worse. Neither major political party is serving the interests of the country – they are serving the mass murderers profiting while the world burns.
‘There is no real opposition.
‘In times of crisis, it is down to ordinary people to take a stand against the rich and powerful by disrupting business as usual. We know it works. A mass road-blocking campaign has just forced the Dutch government to halt oil and gas subsidies.
‘That’s why people are coming together from all over the UK to march day after day in London from today. It’s People vs Oil! Sign up at JustStopOil.org’
Last week, activists from the group sprayed a dinosaur exhibit with orange paint inside London’s Natural History Museum as they continued their relentless campaign of demonstrations across the capital.
Two protestors from the group used a children’s powder paint fountain to cover a reproduction Titanosaur skeleton in orange cornstarch just before 2pm last Thursday, the environmentalist group said.
Consultant gastroenterologist Will Stableforth and physiotherapist Steve Fay were videoed carrying out the stunt inside the museum’s 30ft-high Waterhouse Gallery, surrounded by shocked members of the public who watched on in disbelief.
They then sat down on the floor beneath the gigantic display and held out a sign reading: ‘For health’s sake just stop oil’. One of the men was also wearing a shirt with the word ‘Doctor’ on the front.
This is the moment Just Stop Oil eco-zealots sprayed a dinosaur exhibit with orange powder inside London’s Natural History Museum
Two protestors from the group gained entry to the new exhibit inside the world-renowned museum and began spraying the powder on the replica skeleton
They then sat down beneath the gigantic structure and held out a sign reading: ‘For health’s sake just stop oil’. One of the men was also wearing a shirt with the word ‘Doctor’ on the front
The Metropolitan Police said it had arrested the two men on suspicion of criminal damage, while the museum said the gallery housing the display has been ‘temporarily closed to visitors’.
READ MORE: Met Police insist cops who handcuffed furious motorist for pushing two Just Stop Oil eco-zealots to the ground ‘responded in a proportionate manner’
Stableforth, from Truro in Cornwall, said beforehand: ‘As an NHS medical consultant I’ve spent many years looking after patients with diseases which, at their root, are caused by fossil fuels.
‘I have done everything legal I can to get our message across. Most of that has been ineffective, so it’s time to break the law. I cannot see another way at this time.
‘The climate crisis is a healthcare emergency for every single one of us. We demand an end to any new fossil fuels and immediate climate action prioritising public health rather than big business.’
Fay, from the Hebrides, added: ‘Like this long-extinct dinosaur, we are in grave danger of following in its footsteps.
‘We know we are in a climate emergency with breakdowns in weather patterns and deaths of millions on the near horizon, yet our Government pursues ever greater exploitation of oil and gas reserves.’
‘If we don’t act now, the repercussions will grow ever larger. As a health professional I know this will cause great suffering and death for many millions of people. I have made the decision to take non-violent direct action because I have a moral obligation as a healthcare professional to do all that I can to prevent harm.’
Just Stop Oil claimed that fifteen officers attended the scene at the museum and arrested both men.
Just Stop Oil protesters sprayed orange paint all over London ‘s Wellington Arch last Wednesday
After dousing the historic arch in paint, the trio set off orange flares and held up their well-known sign
The group said in a statement: ‘Today’s action comes in the wake of the High Court rejecting a legal challenge on Friday, brought by Uplift and Greenpeace, to the Government’s decision to endorse new offshore oil and gas.’
It added that ‘health workers have a long and celebrated tradition of engaging in nonviolent disruptive protest’ and that today’s action ‘continues this spirit’.
The group continued: ‘In November, we are calling for daily marches in London until the Government comes to its senses and ends new oil and gas. Just Stop Oil is calling on everyone to join in civil resistance.’
The incident in the Natural History Museum came just a day after a group of Just Stop Oil protestors sprayed the Wellington Arch in orange paint before being arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.
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