Extinction Rebellion occupy Oxford Street in latest stunt
Dismal handful of Extinction Rebellion diehards battle to hold Oxford Street – just 24 hours after violent scenes on the Tube dented eco-mob’s appeal
- Small group of activists build wooden structure in Oxford, causing scores of buses to be cancelled
- Londoner’s patience has worn thin after commuters dragged activists from tube trains yesterday
- Workers point out that only low-emission bus services were hit by the group’s latest own goal today
Extinction Rebellion’s fortnight of aggravating Londoners dragged on today as a handful of the group’s diehards occupied one of the capital’s busiest road junctions.
The wind was taken out of the protesters’ sails yesterday when commuters sick of delays and mayhem took steps to arrest demonstrators themselves at Canning Town tube station.
But despite apologising over the violence and scaling down a planned ‘shutdown’ of Gatwick Airport, Extinction Rebellion resumed their disruption this morning, setting up a wooden structure at the junction of Oxford Street and Regent’s Street.
Pictures from the scene showed police, whose resources have been stretched by two weeks of stunts, moving in after activists built the pyramid-shaped contruction in the middle of the road.
The latest stunt saw scores of buses, many of which are made to reduce emissions, cancelled or rerouted, causing delays for hundreds of workers.
The small group of activists who had assembled sent out tweets pleading for reinforcements as their numbers dwindled. The protest was a shadow of the April protest, when actress Emma Thompson joined activists on a pink boat parked in Oxford Circus.
Extinction Rebellion took over Oxford Street today as their fortnight of stunts ground on, testing Londoners’ patience
Activists built a wooden structure at the junction of Oxford Street and Regent’s Street, forced police to move in en masse
Police quickly shut down the area as they move to dismantle the structure without hurting those tied to it
The group, whose cause suffered a setback when an activists resorted to violence yesterday, admitted they were low on numbers
Responses from many of Twitter showed that public sympathy with the group has run dry. Many Londoners branded today’s action ‘pointless’ and counter-productive.
Abby Deveney wrote: ‘Blocking Oxford Circus halts buses used by real people … people with buggies, people with walking sticks, people with invisible mobility issues, yeah, those kind of people. This strategy is not helpful’
Another Twitter user wrote: ‘The extinction rebellion lot made me late to work. They really blocked Oxford Street (where regular cars are already banned) and just disrupted public transport. They need to work on their tactics.’
Robert Hook wrote: ‘A fairly pointless protest indeed, given that the desire of most vendors along Oxford Street is to pedestrianise it! It’s true that this is one of the most polluted streets on the planet, but the only people inconvenienced by this are the people least able to make a difference!’
Later today, the group are planning to vandalise Whitehall buildings with red chalk as it tours government departments handing in ‘demands’ put together by its leadership.
Responses from workers on Twitter showed that sympathy among the public is running thin after two weeks of mayhem
The group, which launched its latest campaign 10 days ago, says it will use washable chalk spray to mark the path of its march from Whitehall Gardens to six government departments on Friday.
Yesterday, Extinction Rebellion was forced to apologise after activists targeted a tube train at Canning Town.
One activist was dragged to the ground from the roof of the train by an irate commuter. Video then showed the activist apparently kicking out at the person who had pulled him to the floor.
The group later said: ‘It is regretful that there was violence at today’s action at Canning Town tube station. We would like to express our sadness that events escalated this way.
‘We are aware that one of our activists responded in self-defence in a moment of panic when confronted by a threatening situation.
‘He acknowledges his accountability for this action and we offer gratitude for members of the public who helped to protect him.’
The group apologised for the disruption caused to commuters, but said the incident should not create ‘unnecessary division’.
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