Climate action protesters continue rallying in London
Extinction Rebellion protesters shut Oxford Circus, some glue themselves to items on road
LONDON
Hundreds of environmentalist protesters descended on central London Wednesday on a third day of mass protests planned across the British capital.
Protesters marched to the Picadilly Circus after gathering first in front of the Brazilian Embassy to rally for “indigenous peoples of Amazon rainforests,” closing the main junction and disrupting traffic.
A smaller group marched through Leicester Square to reach Trafalgar Square, playing drums.
Suzie Thomas, a protester, said she traveled to London to protest against the government plans to build a fast railway route to Midlands.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, she said the new train line will devastate forests and wildlife.
Another protester, Danny, said he was joining the protests “to save everybody’s life.”
The protests continued in the afternoon as another group closed Oxford Circus, one of the city’s busiest junctions for public buses, in a surprise move in the afternoon and tried to erect a pink structure.
Some of the protesters glued or locked their hands to the structure before police could intervene.
Metropolitan Police said “specialist officers are working to support their removal” on Twitter.
“Oxford Circus is being held by XR women @ FINT, and EVERYONE is welcome,” Extinction Rebellion wrote on Twitter.
More than 100 people have been arrested during the first two days of the protests in central London’s busiest spots, including Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Cambridge Circus, Whitehall, and Oxford Street.
On Tuesday, protesters blocked the entrance of the Selfridges building and briefly rallied on Oxford Street, causing disruption. Some protesters locked themselves to vehicles, while some others glued themselves on shop windows.
"Extinction Rebellion will take to the streets again, with plans to disrupt the City of London to target the root cause of the climate and ecological crisis -- the political economy," a statement from the group said on protests.
The organization's “Impossible Rebellion” protest began on Monday as thousands gathered in Trafalgar Square and marched to Leicester Square as they demand an end to investment in the fossil fuels driving climate change.
The Extinction Rebellion protests came only two months before the UN climate summit COP26 to be hosted by the UK on Oct. 31-Nov. 12.
World leaders are expected to meet in Glasgow "to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change."
A total of 102 protesters have been arrested so far, according to police. In similar protests from the group in 2019, more than 1,600 people were arrested.
