Over one hundred people have been arrested as part of green protests which began yesterday morning, seeing activists blockading Waterloo Bridge.
As of 6.00am this morning, police said there had been 113 arrests of Extinction Rebellion protesters, who camped out on Waterloo Bridge, Parliament Square, Marble Arch, Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus in a bid to force radical action on climate change.
The majority of those were for public order and highway obstruction offences, said Scotland Yard.
However, five of those arrested were taken into custody by police yesterday afternoon after reports of a disturbance outside the Shell headquarters on Belvedere Road.
The group said on Twitter: “XR Activists continue to cause criminal damage at Shell building in London to make them ‘look dirty’ and highlight their ecocidal practices. At least 4 arrested, 2 glued on to cracked windows.”
Graffiti stating “shell kills” was sprayed onto the building while the glass of the building’s foyer door was also reportedly smashed by an activist.
A banner unfurled by green protesters at the building stated: “Stop ecocide! Who are the real criminals?”, while further graffiti labelled it a “crime scene.”
Police said three men and two women were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and taken to a central London police station in connection with the incident.
Separately, the Met has also imposed a condition upon demonstrations at Marble Arch. Officers said they felt the condition, imposed under Section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986, was “necessary in order to prevent the demonstrations from causing ongoing serious disruption to community.”
An early-morning peace festival on a car-free Waterloo Bridge this morning with grandmothers cooking and children playing under trees and on hay bales #ExtinctionRebellion pic.twitter.com/MLvjCHM2wW
— Christine Murray (@tcmurray) April 16, 2019
The action, which started at 11am yesterday is not “a one-day march” its organisers have said – urging activists to “book two weeks off work, or go on strike.”
“We will keep going for as long as we have to, shutting down cities day after day until our demands are met,” said the group.
It is demanding that the government enact legally binding policies to go carbon neutral by 2025 and to establish a ‘Citzen’s Assembly’ to deal with the problem of climate change.
Activists yesterday turned Waterloo Bridge into a ‘Garden Bridge’, bringing flowers and trees decorate the thoroughfare.
Protesters are still camping out on the bridge this morning and disruption is expected.