Hundreds of Extinction Rebellion demonstrators have been arrested just three days into their two-week demonstration. The group has caused havoc across London, with one Twitter user sharing footage of traffic jams caused by the blockade staged by the group on Lambeth Bridge.
In the video, an ambulance flashing its lights is seen in stationary position as the reporter explains the ambulance is “absolutely stuck, stationary”.
A follow-up tweet explains how the ambulance “had to completely U-turn and drive back away from the way to the hospital.
“Extinction Rebellion continue to block the bridge with glee.”
An outraged Twitter user added: “If there was ever in fact any ‘cause’ they may be seeking to promote, they’ve actively extinguished any potential support from decent citizens.
“Their behaviour is fundamentally immature and destructive.
“A much firmer response should be made in clamping down on these idiots.”
Another user said: “I can see what’s going to happen eventually.
“If the police can’t do their job the decent people of society will end up going down and physically remove the vermin off the roads.”
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The protest on London’s Lambeth Bridge is part of a countrywide call to action.
A spokesman for South Wales Police said: “Officers are currently in attendance at a protest in Central Square in Cardiff.
“One person has been arrested on suspicion of committing criminal damage.
“Officers are working to engage with protest organisers and attendees in order to remind them of their obligations under the current Coronavirus legislation and the overarching goal for everyone to take personal responsibility by following Welsh Government regulations to Keep Wales Safe.
“We are duty-bound to take into account all relevant legislation, and South Wales Police has strived to maintain a consistent policing style of engaging, explaining and encouraging, and enforcing as last resort where necessary, throughout this public health emergency – an approach we intend to continue.”
Extinction Rebellion spokeswoman Tamsin Omand said demonstrators wanted Prime Minister Boris Johnson to see and hear what they were demanding.
She said: “The climate and ecological emergency has to be the absolute priority – how we are going to transform society into one that is fit for the crises we are already experiencing and the ones coming down the road.
“We are seeing a Parliament that has failed on every count – Boris Johnson wasn’t even around for the first Cobras of the coronavirus pandemic, so if that is the attitude he is going to take to the climate and ecological emergency we are in dire straits.
“Disruption is a core tenet of how XR works and how we have managed to achieve so much in a short period of time.
“We have been outside Downing Street blocking his route on both sides and of course he’s encountering us here in the square – I think we are impossible to ignore.”
