Protesters close high street amid rooftop demo
POLICE arrested three women from the Palestine Action group after an eighthour rooftop demo in Birmingham which left a building covered in paint and graffiti.
The protesters stormed the Vine Property Management site, trading under Fisher German, on Harborne High Street, at 6am on Monday.
Red paint was sprayed on the front of the building, a flare set off and gates to the site chained shut.
Police finally removed the group hours later using ropes and a ladder. Three women were held on suspicion of criminal damage and aggravated trespass.
One eyewitness said: “I thought police were going to abseil down to the protesters as they had all the ropes set up, but then it appeared one of the protesters glued her hand to the window, so they went up to the roof using a ladder. There was quite a number of officers on the roof. I saw seven at one point.”
The protesters were removed from the site as they were lowered one by one to the floor in an orange stretcher. The women, wearing red jumpsuits, were handcuffed and led away to a police van.
Part of the busy High Street had to be closed during the protest.
Palestine Action has been calling for an end to the company’s “facilitation of Israel’s arms production”.
It claims Vine Property Management, which merged with Fisher German in 2019, handles the operations, oversight and maintenance of the UAV Engines factory in Shenstone, Staffordshire, which they say are used in Elbit’s Hermes and Watchkeeper drones.
The latest demo in Birmingham comes after two protesters occupied the roof of the the Arconic Manufacturing site in Kitts Green last month.