Police get tough on Just Stop Oil: Officers make 630 climate arrests as eco zealots wage month-long disruption with group ‘die-ins’ on the streets of London
- Almost half of the ‘climate arrests’ in a month were made under new powers
Police officers have made 630 climate arrests as eco-zealots stage weeks of disruption – with group ‘die-ins’ taking place on London streets.
Officers are using new powers to make the mass arrests under anti-protest legislation, which bans any action that ‘interferes with the use or operation of any key national infrastructure’.
More than 470 eco-activists have been arrested – some more than once – according to Just Stop Oil.
Almost half of the ‘climate arrests’ over the last month have been under this new legislation – section seven of the Public Order Act 2023.
Scotland Yard said 630 arrests had been made of Just Stop Oil protesters since 30 October, and 328 were charged. The rest have been released on police bail.
Data gathered by the group shows at least 276 people have been charged. At least 125 were charged with blocking key national infrastructure under section seven, and 125 with wilful obstruction of the highway.
It comes after JSO protesters staged a ‘die-in’ in London – making themselves limp and floppy to make it more difficult for police to move them.
The activists’ 30-day campaign of disruption on an ‘unprecedented scale’ saw them deploy the new tactic.
The protestors are filmed deploying what seems to be their latest method of ‘playing dead’ in footage of their slow march in central London on October 30
One older woman is filmed as she sits limp against a wall, with her head falling on her chest
The protests come as the government confirmed in the King’s Speech plans to grant new North Sea oil and gas licences.
But the new powers under section seven seem to be having an effect, with just half a dozen protesters appearing at Trafalgar Square on Wednesday – and only three wore the signature JSO orange bibs.
READ MORE – Just Stop Oil deploy latest ‘die in’ tactic as they bring chaos to the streets of east London during rush hour slow march – as furious motorists are left in long tailbacks
One activist told The Guardian: ‘Everyone’s been arrested, everyone’s got court.’
At one protest last week, video of the start showed dozens of activists in their trademark orange hi-vis jackets emblazoned with the JSO logo step into the street with with large banners to block traffic.
Drivers immediately started blaring their horns, and one disgruntled van driver mounted the pavement to get past the blockade.
JSO is staging ongoing protest action in a bid to stop the government granting new fossil fuel licences.
Last month, 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 during a slow march in Whitehall.
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.
Last month, 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.
The protests come as the government confirmed in the King’s Speech plans to grant new North Sea oil and gas licences
Just Stop Oil protesters employ their latest tactic as they play dead slumped against the wall
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.
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.
The group previously complained about the strict bail conditions imposed on its activists yesterday after they were barred from entering London over their disruptive protests.
Just Stop Oil activists brought London to a standstill again as they staged a ‘die-in’ by going limp and floppy to make it harder to remove them from the street
A JSO activist lying at a road crossing near Earl’s Court as police try to move her
Three police officers pick up a JSO activist who was protesting near Earl’s Court
A bail conditions letter shared by JSO on X, formerly Twitter, said ahead of a protest last month that the activists were barred from the capital to ‘prevent further offences’.
READ MORE: Just Stop Oil complains about the strict bail conditions imposed on activists after more than 60 are arrested at a protest in Parliament Square amid the group’s ‘unprecedented’ 30-day disruption campaign
It read: ‘Not to enter London, inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway unless answering bail at a police station, attending a court hearing or to visit a solicitor by prior appointment.’
Responding to the bail conditions, the group said: ‘The Met Police like to say they want to ‘facilitate’ protests.
‘The conditions imposed on people arrested show otherwise. No protesting in the street in London… In fact don’t even enter London… we want the police to investigate the real criminals.’
It comes after Scotland Yard told eco zealots it was ‘unacceptable’ that officer time and resources were being wasted at a time of surging hate crime and heightened fears of a terror attack prompted by the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Dozens of officers and police vehicles were taken away from other frontline duties during Monday’s protest, which saw activists in orange hi-vis jackets blocking roads and ‘slow marching’ until they were arrested.
Met Commander Kyle Gordon said: ‘This is an extremely busy time for officers across London who are providing reassurance to communities following the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
‘It’s unacceptable that we are having to remove officers, who are carrying out vital work in their communities at a time where there is a large number of hate crime being reported to us, to police Just Stop Oil.
‘We also know the majority of the public has reached their tolerance with Just Stop Oil, which on occasion is over- spilling into violence. It’s clear the public has had enough.’
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