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White ‘Black Lives Matter’ Protesters Walk Free After Shutting Down London Airport
More :TheRoot
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Nine Black Lives Matter protesters in the United Kingdom will not serve any jail time nor pay any fines after shutting down London City Airport on September 6 to raise awareness about environmental racism—specifically air pollution emitted from the airport and its detrimental effects on black people in the surrounding neighborhoods of Newham, the Daily Mail UK reports.
Most UK media outlets report that all nine protesters are white; however, the Daily Mail reports that only eight of them are white.
Natalie Fiennes, 25, cousin of actors Ralph and Joseph Fiennes; Ben Tippet, 24; William Pettifer, 27; Esme Waldron, 23; Alex Etchart, 26; Richard Collett-White, 23; Deborah Francis-Grayson, 31; Sama Baka, 27; and Sam Lund-Harket, 32, were all arrested on charges of “suspicion of aggravated trespass, being unlawfully airside and breaching London City Airport bylaws,” BBC.com reports.
The London Metropolitan Police (Met) reported that the protesters had “erected a tripod and … locked themselves together on the runway” after reportedly using a rubber dinghy or swimming across the River Thames to reach the airport’s single runway. Hundreds of flights were canceled or delayed over the course of the six-hour protest. Flights resumed at approximately 12:00 p.m. the same afternoon.
