Three arrested after scaling Brighton cafe during Extinction Rebellion protest

Three people were arrested as Extinction Rebellion protestors took to the streets in Brighton yesterday (Saturday, August 29).
Protestors on the West Beach cafe roof. Picture from Jason Sensation/Twitter SUS-200830-095724001Protestors on the West Beach cafe roof. Picture from Jason Sensation/Twitter SUS-200830-095724001
Protestors on the West Beach cafe roof. Picture from Jason Sensation/Twitter SUS-200830-095724001

Demonstrators kayaked to the burnt-out West Pier in front of Brighton’s landmark i360 attraction and draped a 12-metre banner over it, reading ‘Climate emergency – our house is on fire’.

Other activists attached banners to railings and spray-painted the street near the i360 complex, with slogans such as ‘Join the rebellion’ and ‘The sea levels are rising and so are we’.

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Activists also scaled a building in the i360 complex, removed the British Airways flag, and replaced it with a banner reading ‘Our house is on fire’.

The activists unfurled the banners at the end of a march, named ‘We All Want to Live’, which was jointly organised by local Extinction Rebellion and Black Lives Matter groups.

Police said three women were arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespassing following the protest.

The protestors demanded immediate government action to combat the climate crisis and to address racial justice.

The march took place on Brighton seafront.

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Organisers said the demonstration was part of a local build-up to Extinction Rebellion’s ‘national rebellion’ in London.

From Tuesday (September 1) onwards, the organisation said it will be demonstrating in several locations including Parliament Square, reiterating its demands for climate action.

Black Lives Matter Brighton and Extinction Rebellion Brighton collaborated in the protest.

Claudia Fisher, of Extinction Rebellion Brighton, said: “The UK is seeking to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 100 per cent by 2050, but if demand is unchecked passenger numbers are predicted to rise by 70 per cent and aviation will become the largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

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“We can’t rely on future technologies to fix this, we have to act now to halve critical rises in global temperature.

“The government has given loan bailouts to airlines totalling £1.5bn since the coronavirus outbreak, with no environmental conditions attached.”

A spokesperson from Black Lives Matter said: “If Black Lives Matter (and especially if All Lives Matter), our government must put an end to the hostile environment and racist, xenophobic, anti-immigration policies. Deportation flights have still gone ahead in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, putting already endangered lives at an even greater risk, and airlines have profited from this.

Climate change is already taking its toll on the global South, and will continue to disproportionately impact black people and people of colour all over the world.”

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Extinction Rebellion UK is calling for the Government to pass the Climate and Ecological Emergency (CEE) Bill.

Claudia added: “We are at an intersection of global crises. Climate breakdown, ecological collapse, Covid-19, racial injustice – all are symptoms of a toxic system that is driving us to extinction. We cannot carry on like this. The system is killing us.

“To stop the harm we must stand together and act now. It’s time to transform representative democracy in a way that doesn’t think in five-year terms. We need a Citizens’ Assembly now where ordinary people, with guidance from experts, have a say in their own fate.

“Change is now. It’s time to decide together how we move forward in this emergency.”

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