from The Guardian
Motorists dragged Just Stop Oil protesters out of the way as activists halted traffic flow across four central London roads on Saturday.
The group said 61 Just Stop Oil supporters stopped traffic on Charing Cross Road, Kensington High Street, Kennington Road and Blackfriars Road, “demanding that the government halts all new oil and gas consents and licences”.
They posted a series of videos on Twitter shortly after midday on Saturday, showing protesters in bright orange vests sitting across some of the city’s major roads.
In several instances, members of the public shouted abuse and dragged the protesters on to the nearby pavement. Drivers dragged protesters out of the road, but they persistently returned to retake their places.
A man hurled a traffic bollard on to the road near where they were sitting and people snatched their signs and threw them on the ground.
The group quoted some of the protest’s participants, including Anna Berrill, a 20-year-old philosophy student from Leeds, who said: “I’m doing this because it breaks my heart to witness the tragedies that are happening and will keep coming because of our actions, and to live in a crumbling world and not do anything is unbearable.”
Helen Redfern, 57, a grandmother of four and social enterprise founder from Gateshead, said: “I’m joining the Just Stop Oil campaign today because for me, taking nonviolent direct action seems to be the only option left to me.”
Another added: “The government are not taking the devastating effects of the climate emergency seriously. They’re still granting new oil and gas licences when it’s clear that oil and gas are the problem, not the solution.
“I cannot sit by and watch people suffering around the world already, knowing that unless we act fast, more and more people will suffer more and more climate-related disasters now and in the future.”
At the time of writing, the videos had been live for one hour and had been watched more than 30,000 times collectively.
The Metropolitan police tweeted: “We are aware of Just Stop Oil protests in Kensington High Street, Charing Cross Road, Kennington Park Road and Blackfriars Road. Police were immediately on scene and a number of arrests have been made.
“Protesters have used ‘lock-ons’ and glued themselves to the road. Charing Cross Road has now been cleared and is back open to traffic. Work is ongoing to reopen the other roads as soon as possible.”
Earlier this month, the public order bill passed through the Commons, taking aim at “criminal, disruptive and self-defeating guerrilla tactics” used by groups such as Just Stop Oil and Insulate Britain.
It would introduce stiff penalties for “lock-on” protests, used regularly by groups such as Extinction Rebellion (XR) and Just Stop Oil, as well as new offences of interfering with key national infrastructure, obstructing major transport works and causing serious disruption by tunnelling.