Tuesday, 19 Nov 2024

Where was Extinction Rebellion today and what did its protesters do?

GOOGLE was today accused of "betraying parents, families and children who are suffering as a result of the climate and ecological crisis" by Extinction Rebellion protesters.

So which parts of London did they target today, and what did the group's supporters do to draw attention to their pleas?

Where was Extinction Rebellion today and what did its protesters do?

Despite a Met police ban on the group's climate protests in the capital, about 150 mums with babies and young children defied the order to stage a "nurse-in" outside the London offices of Google.

And activists launched a parallel protest at the premises of its subsidiary YouTube.

Organisers Extinction Rebellion tweeted this afternoon that there was also a “huge presence in Trafalgar Square in defiance of [the] government clampdown on peaceful protest.

“The rebellion is growing as the climate emergency is accelerating.

“The government must launch a comprehensive response, not cower behind the police.”

Amnesty International said the police ban was an "unlawful restriction" on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

However, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor warned activists they face arrest for flouting the ban.



Those sitting outside Google's HQ said they were acting in response to a report in The Guardian that said the search engine has made substantial contributions to climate deniers in Washington despite saying it supports climate action.

An organiser, Lorna Greenwood, told Reuters: "It's just a terrible betrayal to all the parents, families and children that are suffering as a result of the climate and ecological crisis."

The mums were gathered despite cops issuing a ban on Extinction Rebellion protests in the capital late on Monday.

About five activists scaled the entrance to YouTube's London office and unfurled a banner that said: "YouTube Stop Platforming Climate Denial."

Extinction Rebellion Youth accused YouTube, which is owned by Google, of offering a disproportionate platform to people who dispute the scientific consensus that climate change is caused by burning fossil fuels.

It said: "This is not about censorship of individuals' freedom of speech: it is about preventing YouTube being exploited by fossil fuel companies seeking to warp the public debate in their favour."

Police say they have arrested 1,642 people in the capital since Extinction Rebellion launched a fresh wave of civil disobedience on October 7.

On Thursday XR activists plan to target the Tube network, which Mr Taylor called "unacceptable".

 

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