London Bans Extinction Rebellion Protests After Blackrock Offices Targeted

London has become the first city in the world to ban environmental alarmist group Extinction Rebellion just one day after reports that they were targeting Blackrock offices in the progressive city. 

Any assembly linked to the Extinction Rebellion ‘Autumn Uprising’ must now cease their protest(s) within London (Metropolitan Police Service, and City of London areas) by 2100 hours on Monday 14th October 2019.https://t.co/f3e0sozVAG pic.twitter.com/kYA7NOYwmX

— MPS Events (@MetPoliceEvents) October 14, 2019

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Supporters of the group – which made headlines last week for causing gridlock in New York’s Times Square when they superglued themselves to a boat – call London’s decision massive “overreach,” according to CNN. 

#ExtinctionRebelion Mob rocking up outside Blackrock Offices. Looks like a lost Drama School Trip. pic.twitter.com/NhBNJdXTrf

— Matthew Jones (@the_mjones) October 14, 2019

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“There have been draconian policing methods e.g. (in) Brisbane, and water cannons and violence used by police in Belgium. But this is the first ban,” extiction rebellion spokeswoman Zion Lights told CNN, adding “We are worried by this erosion of democracy while the real criminals continue to destroy the health of our planet.” 

According to the report, the ban is intended to prevent “ongoing serious disruption to the community.”

That said, activists do not appear to be backing down. 

But, by Tuesday morning, the environmental campaigners had made it clear that they wouldn’t back down. Many activists returned to Trafalgar Square in defiance of the ban and the group said it would be pursuing legal action against the police force’s decision.

The movement’s co-founder, Gail Bradbrook, staged a demonstration at the UK Department of Transport, climbing atop the entrance as other activists glued themselves to the building below.

Referring to trees that are scheduled to be felled in the building of the UK’s HS2 high-speed rail project, Bradbrook said: “I do this for the beautiful pear tree at Cubbington Woods, 250 years old they have no rights… I do this in fierce love of the 108 ancient woodlands threatened by HS2, this climate crime of a project. I do this in the spirit of what Emmeline Pankhurst called ‘the noble art of window smashing.'”

Bradbrook was arrested shortly afterwards. –CNN

In a report released over the summer, a former head of counterterrorism for Scotland Yard warned that Extinction Rebellion should be treated as an extremist anarchist group.