FREED TO CAUSE CHAOS AGAIN
Revolving as eco-activists door go from police cells straight back to demos
‘They were pretty bad about getting me vegan food’
SCORES of eco-warriors arrested in the capital rejoined the protests hours after being freed from police custody.
As a row broke out about ‘revolving door justice’, a lawyer who was arrested after she superglued her hands to the pavement outside the Shell HQ, went on TV and radio to defend the chaos.
Farhana Yamin, who was detained on Tuesday, told Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I totally want to apologise to people using public transport.
‘Obviously I use public transport as much as possible and we’re encouraging everyone to use less cars, less emissions, less private emissions.
‘But at the same time we need to take actions which are disruptive and the reason for that is to make sure everyone understands the dangers we’re facing right now.’ But the fact that so many of the arrested protesters were able to rejoin the fray within hours only added to the chaos at some of London’s major landmarks.
Angie Zelter was carried off Waterloo Bridge by police on Tuesday afternoon after she refused to move.
The 76-year-old spent seven hours in a cell at Brixton police station before she was let out and immediately re-joined the Extinction Rebellion strongholds. But by yesterday morning she appeared relaxed as she sat underneath a bright pink boat which had been placed in the middle of an Oxford Circus junction.
She said: ‘When I was released I came straight back out and went around all the four places where the blockades were still held and checked where they needed more support.
‘I went back to a friend’s house, had a rest then came and joined here at Oxford Circus this morning. I plan on being here for at least two weeks. If I get arrested again, so be it.’
Green Party London Assembly candidate Zack Polanski was back on Waterloo Bridge yesterday after being arrested and spending 12 hours at a police station the day before. The 36-year-old ‘cognitive hypnotist’, who once boasted he had the power to make women’s breasts grow, moaned about the lack of vegan food and soy milk while in custody.
‘I’m a vegan and they were pretty bad about getting me some vegan food,’ he said. ‘If you are going to arrest 300 activists you have got to think about getting some vegan food ready. There was no soy milk either so I had to have my tea black.’
Charity worker Sarah MacDonald, 52, rejoined the protests after spending seven hours in a cell. She said police were ‘really lovely, really kind’ after she was arrested. She was taken to Wood Green police station in North London after being forcibly removed from Waterloo Bridge on Tuesday. She had travelled to London with her 19-year-old son, a student. ‘I could see police had circled around my son so I went over to stand next to him. He moved off the street but I stood my ground and they arrested me,’ she said. ‘The police were actually really lovely, really kind. They gave me something to eat, a cup of tea, let me keep my book. My first thought after being released was that I wanted to get back out into the thick of it. I went back to Marble Arch and camped in a tent.’
Jeffrey Brewster, 59, praised the ‘ fantastic’ police after he was arrested on Monday evening after refusing to move off Waterloo Bridge. He was taken to a police station where he was kept until Tuesday afternoon.
‘Myself and others had to wait for two hours outside the police station because there simply wasn’t enough room for us inside,’ the retired electrician said.
‘We then had to wait another two hours inside because there weren’t enough resources to process us all. They had 24 cells and we filled up the cells.
‘ The police were fantastic. I became very friendly with one of them and heard his life story. I was let out at about 5.30pm on Tuesday. A group of us went to the pub for a couple of pints then came here to Oxford Circus. I camped at Hyde Park overnight. There’s a group of us who have
‘If they arrest me again, so be it’
come up from a sleepy Somerset village. I’m going to stay until Friday, but there are others who are staying two weeks.’ Mother- of- three Katerina
Hasapopoulos, of Stroud, Gloucestershire, who was arrested on Monday for causing damage to the Shell building, was back out protesting yesterday. She was held on Monday after activists smashed glass doors at the Shell HQ in Waterloo and spray-painted graffiti on to the building.
yesterday she returned to Waterloo Bridge, where protesters have been told they face arrest if they do not comply with a condition to continue demonstrations in the Marble arch area.
‘as soon as I was out of the cell I went and served some food at Marble arch, then came here,’ she said. ‘I left my three children, all under six, at home with their father to do this, because their future depends on it.’
Caroline Vincent, 56, who was arrested on Waterloo Bridge on Tuesday, said she planned to return to protest at Parliament Square.
‘ They arrested me for obstructing the highway. They were very polite, I was equally polite,’ she said.
‘I spent the night at Sutton police station [in south west London] and was released this morning.
‘I will be back on the streets tonight. I’m on Parliament Square duty.’
Grandmother Lucy Craig, 71, said she also plans to rejoin the protests after she was arrested at Oxford Circus on Monday.
‘If they arrest me again, so be it, I’ve got nothing to lose,’ she said.
The grandmother was arrested after joining the protest at Oxford Circus on Monday with members of her family.
She was taken to Kingston police station – miles from her north London home – but described the officers as ‘charming’.