Extinction Rebellion climate activists staged a sit-in in central London over the weekend, with dozens arrested after blocking two bridges to demand an end to the fossil fuel economy.
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered at Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park on Sunday morning before entering the city centre and “occupying” the Lambeth and Vauxhall Bridges, a major thoroughfare across the Thames, preventing vehicles from passing .
They did, however, allow ambulances and fire trucks to pass, and organizers divided the crowd by shouting “Blue Light”.
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Crowds sat in the middle of the road, waving colorful flags emblazoned with the group’s “extinct” symbol and placards that read “No Planet B” and “We Want to Live”, listening to music and speakers in the sunny weather.
Police cleared first Lambeth and then Vauxhall Bridge hours later, saying 38 people had been arrested in the process.
Police told protesters there was evidence they were causing a “serious disturbance” to the public, warning them to leave or face arrest. Police took the last of the militants away, some of them in police cars.
The Metropolitan Police tweeted on Sunday night: “Two demonstrations in the Vauxhall area have now ended and roads have reopened. We have made 38 arrests as a result of today’s policing action.”
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Doctors and nurses from a small group of medical staff who refused to leave Lambeth Bridge were among those arrested, Extinction Rebellion tweeted.
The Met said it had imposed conditions under section 14 of the Extinction Rebellion on Public Order Act 1986 to clear the area around Vauxhall Bridge.
Kiri Ley, a 21-year-old activist and student from Birmingham, said the group was peacefully occupying the capital in an attempt to force the government to make changes when there was no other way.
She told the PA news agency: “I know that people often question our tactics about sabotage, for example, for ordinary people, things like barricades like sticking, locking, etc.
“If you make criticism, I would ask people, what do you actually recommend us to do?
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“We’ve tried everything else – we’ve written letters, we’ve marched, we’ve talked to our MPs, we’ve done everything we can, and time and time again, we’ve seen them do things that have Do the exact opposite. The scientific evidence shows that that’s left to us, really, we do it because we know it works.”
Adam, in his 60s, from York, said: “It may seem disruptive, but compared to climate change, it’s chicken feed.”
Former Love Island contestant Amy Hart tweeted a photo of herself with protesters on her way to the Olivier Awards with the caption: “Extinction Rebellion has closed Lambeth Bridge so we’re actually doing Lambeth walk oi x”.
