Climate campaigners among arrested London City airport protesters
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Version 0 of 1. A group of Black Lives Matter (BLM) activists charged with trespassing after a demonstration on the runway at London City airport included a number of protesters who have previously campaigned against airport expansion and for climate change causes. The demonstration on Tuesday triggered a debate over the authenticity of Black Lives Matter UK when the movement confirmed all nine protesters were white. Prominent black rights activists accused the group of “cultural appropriation” and using the BLM banner for an environmental protest. Among those charged are Natalie Fiennes, 25, from south-west London, a cousin of Harry Potter actor Ralph Fiennes. She previously took part in the LSE Occupy protest and has attended the Climate Camp. William Pettifer, 27, of Radford, Somerset and Esme Waldron, 23, from Brighton are both involved with the Plane Stupid movement against aviation expansion. Sam Lund-Harket, 32, who lives on a houseboat on the river Stort, in Roydon, Essex, is an activism and events assistant at social justice group Global Justice Now and a supporter of climate justice group Reclaim the Power, while Alex Etchart, who also lives on the houseboat, describes himself as a pan-American songwriter for social movements who has been involved with Occupy London and anti-fracking campaigns. All five have been charged along with Deborah Francis-Grayson, 31, from Slough, Richard Collett-White, 23, from Kempston, Ben Tippett, 24, from south-west London, and Sama Baka, 27, who lives on the Essex houseboat, with aggravated trespass and entering a security restricted area of an aerodrome. They have been released on bail to appear at Westminster magistrates court on 14 September. Asked about the action, Etchart said: “Black lives still matter.” He offered no further comment. Stafford Scott and Lee Jasper, a former equality adviser to Ken Livingstone, were publicly critical of the protest, accusing white leftwing activists of hijacking the Black Lives Matter banner. “It’s cultural appropriation. Even our struggle [is] no longer our own,” Jasper said on Twitter. Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now, Lund-Harket’s employer, said: “Climate change isn’t primarily about saving English meadows or polar bears; it’s an issue of social justice and racial justice. Climate change has been fuelled by the rich world, mostly white, but it’s the poorer world, mostly black, that will pay the heaviest price – through extreme weather and through the fact that it’s not able to develop in the same high-carbon way. That’s one reason more serious action has not been taken to date on this issue. “It’s a good thing that some people are using their free time to take direct action on this issue which highlights the extreme urgency and significance of what climate change means for billions of people on this planet. “Future generations will look back on this sort of activity in the same way we now look back on direct action against slavery, or for votes for women or against apartheid. Climate change is a terrible injustice being perpetrated on the marginalised.” Dozens of flights were cancelled or rescheduled at the airport in Newham, east London, as police dealt with the demonstration. Black Lives Matter UK said it aimed to highlight the disproportionate impact air pollution had on black people. But the group confused some with its wide-ranging press release, which also listed the deteriorating environment in Newham, the wealthy clientele of London City airport, the migration crisis in the Mediterranean, the impact climate change has on sub-Saharan Africa and immigration deportations as motives behind the action. Flights were cancelled to Geneva, Milan, Luxembourg, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Zürich, Florence, Mallorca and Málaga. Flights to Dublin and Frankfurt were delayed. |