According to twitter account of the movement in the United Kingdom, “thousands” of demonstrators “occupied” the Marble Arch district of the British capital in the afternoon during a sit-in, not far from Hyde Park. Demonstrators perched and tied themselves on the roof of a limousine.
“End Fossil Filth”
Referring to “significant traffic disruption”, the police meanwhile tweeted that demonstrators “attached themselves to a vehicle stopped in the middle of the road”, a vehicle which would belong to them according to the police.
In the morning, it was on a tank truck that militants of the group had settled, blocking the vehicle in a street near Hyde Park.
Three activists, including Etienne Stott, Olympic canoe slalom champion in 2012, climbed onto the tank in the colors of the oil tanker Shell, unfurling a banner “ End fossil filth (End the Fossil Filth), according to a statement from Extinction Rebellion. Six people were arrested, police said.
A series of actions since the beginning of the week
The movement has carried out a series of actions for a week to call for an end to fossil fuels, with in particular a coup last Friday which led to the closure of the famous Tower Bridge.
This Friday, activists blocked four London bridges, after having carried out actions earlier in the week in the premises of Shell or the Lloyd’s insurance market in London.
Under pressure from the war in Ukraine and soaring inflation, Boris Johnson’s government presented a new energy security strategy last week that is accelerating the development of nuclear and renewables, but also fossil fuels in North Sea, much to the chagrin of environmental organizations.