Officers have arrested 680 people in connection with Extinction Rebellion protests in London so far this month.
Thursday, 10 September, marked the last advertised day of protests for Extinction Rebellion. Since this period of protest began on 1 September, police have arrested 680 people. The arrests were for a number of different offences, including obstructing the highway, criminal damage and breaching the conditions set under Section 14 of the Public Order Act (1986).
Commander Jane Connors, the Gold Commander for London said: “Undoubtedly, Extinction Rebellion’s latest protests have been a significant challenge for officers, especially as we remain in a public health crisis. I would like to thank them for their outstanding professionalism in policing the events over the past two weeks.
“At the beginning of this period of protests we warned demonstrators that if they failed to comply with conditions in place that they may be liable to arrest.
“The public have a right to protest, but they do not have a right to cause disruption to the communities and businesses across London. That is why we took swift action to make a number of arrests.
“This has been a large policing operation and we will continue to investigate those who we suspect to have committed offences, so the number of arrests is likely to rise.”
