Extinction Rebellion protests: Group apologises over Tube disruption after furious mob of commuters clash with activists
Eight arrested as climate activists continue to defy London-wide ban on protests
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Your support makes all the difference.Extinction Rebellion has apologised after protesters tried to stop trains on London’s tube network, only to be fiercely attacked by a mob.
Protesters were dragged from the top of trains and attacked by angry commuters as they halted a train at Canning Town station this morning.
Dozens of commuters were seen pulling at two campaigners who climbed to the top of a tube train with a ladder before they unfurled a banner reading “Business as usual = death”.
Bystanders then began to kick one of the activists they managed to drag to the floor.
Meanwhile, another group of activists glued themselves to a DLR train at Shadwell while commuters shouted “We’re on an electric train”.
“We would...like to apologise to all those whose lives we disrupted this morning. We have spent a lot of time thinking about how best to respond,” am XR spokesperson said on Thursday afternoon.
“Extinction Rebellion remains fully committed to nonviolence. The climate and ecological emergency is the biggest threat facing us all today, and it is unfortunate that something like this has to happen for this to become ‘newsworthy’.
“That said, we are all incredibly sad at how events unfolded this morning, and are using this as an opportunity to learn and reflect as an organisation.
“Although we are pushing for disruption and civil disobedience, we are still learning how to do this in a way that does not result in violence, and that does not discriminate against hard-working individuals, especially those in communities who stand to be most affected by the climate and ecological crisis and are most vulnerable to systems of power.”
The group plans to continue its protests in central London, which have seen more than 1,600 people arrested.
If you would like to see how the protests unfolded, please see what was our live coverage below:
↵"Celebrity supporters of Extinction Rebellion (XR) have called themselves “hypocrites” for supporting environmental protests while living “high carbon lives”," Sarah Young reported earlier today.
"More than 100 famous figures, including actor Benedict Cumberbatch, Sir Bob Geldof and actor Sienna Miller, have signed an open letter acknowledging that their lifestyles and professions contribute to the “climate emergency” XR is campaigning to end.
"Despite their admission, the celebrities, who have supported XR’s two-week long disruption in London that has grounded flights and caused violent clashes, said they will not be silenced."
Read more here:
A UN human rights expert has said Britain's increasingly aggressive response to climate protests is consistent with a "global pattern of suppression" of environmental activists.
Those who oppose environmentally damaging projects such as coal plants or mines face worse challenges in other parts of the world like Latin America and Southeast Asia, where they suffer violence, harassment and intimidation, said David R Boyd, the UN special rapporteur on human rights and the environment.
Mr Boyd said governments around the world "for several decades have failed to take adequate action to address the climate crisis".
He said younger protesters, who have walked out of schools to make their point, were likely to be detained in the future.
"There is no question that, at some point, those protests will cross the line as well from the governments' perspective, and that will be a pretty ugly day when we start to see young people arrested," Mr Boyd said.
Here are some images from the protest in Trafalgar Square today, after a hostile day for demonstrators.
(PA)
(PA)
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