Two arrests made in rubber dinghy demo
CLIMATE activists chained themselves together and sat in a rubber dinghy as a city centre road was shut down yesterday afternoon. The stunt by Extinction Rebellion saw St Vincent Street closed off to all traffic while “blood money” was spray painted across the Santander building.
A heavy police presence was called to monitor the scene, where specialist officers were used to cut through the metal attached to the protesters.
COP26 Coalition explained activists were demonstrating in solidarity with indigenous communities.
A tweet reads: “Santander have a track record of funding projects directly linked to large-scale deforestation around the world.”
A separate stunt was staged on Waterloo Street outside the JP Morgan branch at the same time while a metal fence was erected between the bank’s doors and the protesters. Police Scotland has confirmed it was in attendance at the protests.
A spokesperson said: “Officers were in attendance at St Vincent Street where they engaged with protestors in order to facilitate peaceful protest.
“An element of the protest was causing disruption with individuals having attached themselves to a lock-on device.
“Two people have been arrested in connection with this and specialist officers have removed the individuals from the device.
“Another individual was arrested in connection with an alleged vandalism.
“In order to ensure the safety of the individuals, the wider public and officers dealing with the protesters, it was necessary to create a sterile area while this process was carried out.”