More Than 1,000 Arrested In Extinction Rebellion London Protests; Their Stories
Bing Jones, 66, Sheffield, artist and retired doctor
I have never been a campaigner or activist before, but I have been worrying about the environment for decades. For 20 years I have written letters, signed petitions, ridden a bike – I have done everything that is “polite” – but the situation has, if anything, gone backwards.
I came across Extinction Rebellion (XR) in October last year, through George Monbiot, and joined up straight away. I have become totally absorbed. I came down to London with one of four groups from Sheffield. We were in Parliament Square, blocking the roads. Some people had glued or locked themselves to objects using tubes or chains. The police picked off the people not locked on first. We have been trained in non-violent direct action, so I knew what to do: you go floppy. It was my second time being arrested – I was also arrested in November, when XR closed five London bridges.
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Barry Slipper, 71, Southampton, retired engineer
I have worked, since the age of 16, for all the major oil companies – BP, Shell, Esso. In 1986 I first heard about climate change through my Friends of the Earth group. As climate change and global warming moved up the agenda I thought it was inevitable that oil and gas companies would change because the consequences were so serious. But by the late 90s it was clear they had no intention of changing. So then you start to rationalise – how can I stay in this industry? And I started trade-offs – upping my donations to Greenpeace to balance things out. I got laid off when I was 62 and I was keen to get into direct action. I have been travelling around to fracking sites for the past six years. The anti-fracking campaign has been so effective – it has shown we can make a difference.
When I first heard about XR, it seemed very extreme, but it’s an extreme situation. XR has to succeed or we all go down the tubes. I have been here for just over a week with the Southampton XR group, holding the blockade on Edgware Road. The police are always polite – maybe because I look a bit fragile at 71. This is my fourth time being arrested: twice for fracking and twice for Extinction Rebellion. If you are a person of colour being arrested there are a lot more implications, but if you are white, retired, with no career to think about ... as long as I can pay the fines I can take these actions without too much concern for the consequences, although I don’t take it lightly.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/23/i-would-go-to-prison-the-ordinary-people-getting-arrested-for-extinction-rebellion
