Just Stop Oil activists who spent 13 days occupying a tunnel under a motorway in Essex near an oil port have been taken into custody.
Around 3:45 PM this afternoon, the three guys said they had “achieved their mission” when they emerged from the Grays tunnel, but Essex Police apprehended them right afterwards.
One protester bragged of severely disrupting the flow of oil and being highlighted by Priti Patel and Boris Johnson in a video taken from the 16-meter-long tunnel.
The individual said that they often informed Essex Police that the route leading to the oil terminal is dangerous and disclosed that they had been able to access the top surface of the road.
In a statement on Friday, the chief constable of Essex Police agreed that climate change is a problem, but said that it cannot be used as justification for activities that “seriously disturb” and “endanger” the lives of people.
On August 23, hundreds of environmental demonstrators disrupted two oil refineries by blocking highways as is customary, but some protesters even invaded tunnels.
According to Just Stop Oil, four more individuals were occupying two tunnels that were excavated close to the Kingsbury terminal, while five people were occupying two tunnels that were dug beneath St. Clements Way and London Road in Grays.
Only three men remained in the tunnel after more than a week; they were Joe Howlett, 32, of Bath, Samuel Johnson, 29, of Suffolk, and Xavier Gonzalez-Trimmer, 21, of London.
Mr. Johnson previously stated: “We’re going to come out as soon as the government makes a statement, a meaningful statement, they will halt on new future licences and consents for the exploration and production of fossil fuels in the UK.” The group had stated they would remain until certain promises had been made.
On Friday, Chief Constable BJ Harrington issued a statement on the protests in which he threatened to apprehend the protesters and asserted that Essex Police is “not soft on unlawful protest.”
I understand and share the concerns felt by local companies and communities whose operations have been hampered by protest action, he added. The resolution to these issues, particularly when protesters have dug tunnels beneath the surface of the road, is not simple and does not involve officers “climbing in and dragging them out.”
“A careful balance must be struck in order to safely remove protesters from potentially unstable tunnels without jeopardising the lives of those we would be sending in.
He claimed that the wider road system in Thurrock was open and that there was no reason to enter a tunnel with questionable structural integrity.
To be clear, he continued, “The three protesters who are still in that Thurrock tunnel are acting in an unacceptable, disruptive, and illegal manner.”
“Many of us will recognise and understand the protesters’ goal of drawing attention to climate change and the need to preserve our environment for future generations. Real concerns exist about climate change.
Even Nevertheless, activities that gravely disturb and jeopardise the lives of others cannot be justified by worries about the environment, no matter how valid they may be.
We’ve been in touch with Essex Police to get their thoughts on the arrests.
A protester who had previously exited the tunnel shared a video of herself there in which she claimed to be having trouble breathing due to acute asthma in the congested, dusty environment.
The activist, Stephanie, said: “I’ve been trying to pull debris out of the tunnel for the past five hours, but it’s becoming harder to be down here.”
We really don’t have much of a choice but to be here if I want to safeguard the future of my two children, even if I’m really battling to breathe, perhaps because I have pretty bad asthma. I’m thus forced to push through, take breaths, and go as close to the finish line as I can.
It’s so bad down here, she said, and we had to pull everything into the tunnel because of the prior fear. As a result, half of our tunnel is presently full with items, water, supplies, and food, which will keep us alive but makes moving extremely difficult.