Number of climate protesters arrested rises to over 300 in London demonstrations

Today (Wednesday) more Extinction Rebellion activists have been taken into custody by police in London.

This comes after activists from group Extinction Rebellion have chained themselves to the underside of a lorry on Waterloo Bridge, as well as other places of interest, in order to disrupt traffic flow throughout the capital.

Extinction Rebellion is a worldwide movement of climate change activists with the aim of bringing attention to the poor state of the planet’s environment and sparking governmental action through non-violent means.

The police issued a statement on the arrests made:

“Five of which were for criminal damage following a disruption outside commercial premises and the remaining 117 were made on Waterloo Bridge last night and in the early hours of this morning. The majority of these arrests were made for breaching Section 14 of the Public order Act 1986 and obstructing a highway. All remain in custody at this time.”

They further announced that the disruptions have affected roughly half a million people over the course of the protests and they expect further disruptions in the coming weeks.

Waterloo Bridge in London is not the only bridge that we have #occupied. @XR_NYC have #BrooklynBridge in New York City. #RebelForLife non-violently against government inaction on and complicity in the #SixthMassExtinction with us.pic.twitter.com/gmOVDl1pzU

— Extinction Rebellion ?⌛️? (@ExtinctionR) April 17, 2019

Ms. Pepino, from Hereford, who has been chained to a lorry on Waterloo bridge since Monday evening, told LBC’s Nick Ferrari:

“If people had been listening to what climate activists and the scientific community had been saying for the past 30 years then perhaps we would have been able to handle this in a more managed way.”

The protests, organised by activist group Extinction Rebellion, are planned to go on until the 29th April 2019.