Greta Thunberg Detained At Fossil Free London Protest

Greta Thunberg was detained in connection with her advocacy for Fossil Free London.

Oil executives were gathered outside the InterContinental Hotel on Park Lane, where the Swedish environmentalist had gathered with other activists.

The protesters endeavored to obstruct hotel access by staking claim to the vicinity surrounding the entrance.

On X, formerly Twitter, Fossil Free London announced, “Breaking: Greta Thunberg was arrested just now.”

Social media posts featured images of the 20-year-old activist being led away and deposited in the backseat of a marked van by police officers.

The Met Police stated in a statement that Section 14 of the Public Order Act ordered the activists to move from the road to the pavement to “prevent serious disruption to the community, hotel, and guests.”

According to the report, “several protesters neglected to do so,” leading to sixteen arrests for violations of Section 14, six arrests for obstruction of the highway, and one for criminal damage.

Dozens of demonstrators obstructed both ends of Hamilton Place near Park Lane. They chanted “oily money out” and “cancel the conference” while carrying banners and pink umbrellas with painted eyes. A portion of them also ignited smoke pyrotechnics in yellow and pink hues.

Greta Thunberg was detained in connection with her advocacy for Fossil Free London.

The hotel entrance was foreclosed to demonstrators by a white fence while police smuggled conference attendees through the chanting activists.

The first day of the three-day Energy Intelligence Forum, formerly the Oil and Money Conference, was designated for Fossil Free London’s demonstration. During this time, executives from Shell and Total were scheduled to deliver speeches.

Ms. Thunberg stated at the rally, “Behind these closed doors at the Oil and Money conference, spineless politicians are negotiating compromises and agreements with lobbyists from the fossil fuel industry, which is a destructive industry.”

“People all over the world are suffering and dying from the consequences of the climate crisis caused by these industries who we allow to meet with our politicians and have privileged access to.”

She further stated: “That is why we have to take direct action to stop this and to kick oily money out of politics.”

Activists affiliated with Greenpeace rappelled from the hotel rooftop while carrying a banner that read “Make big oil pay” during the demonstration.

Maja Darlington, representing Greenpeace UK, stated, “While billions of people struggle to rebuild following a summer of extreme weather, oil executives toast each other in a luxury hotel and devise strategies to increase profits even further.”

Greta Thunberg was detained in connection with her advocacy for Fossil Free London.

“Big oil is profiting from humanity’s loss and those who have done the least to cause climate change are being forced to pay the price.”

The conference will feature the CEOs of Aramco and Equinor of Saudi Arabia and Norway, respectively, and the German ambassador to the United Kingdom and Graham Stuart, the energy security and net zero ministers of the United Kingdom.

In the past, Mr Stuart has asserted that energy security requires that oil and gas corporations be permitted to continue drilling for resources in the North Sea.

SOURCE – (BBC)