A group of protestors from the ‘Just Stop Oil’ protest movement attempted to disrupt Gatwick Airport on Monday morning by blocking the the main security control point in the South Terminal by sitting in front of the entrance with so-called ‘lock on’ devices.
The group of eight ‘Just Stop Oil’ supporters, including 63-year-old mother and environmental consultant Mel Carrington, started their protest at around 8 am on July 29.
Carrington said she was participating in the protest to demand that governments worldwide commit to eliminating the use of oil, gas, and coal by 2030 at the latest.
“I can’t bear to stand back and watch millions dying because the rich and powerful prefer to protect their wealth and status than the lives of ordinary people,” Carrington said as the protest got underway during the morning rush for flights to popular holiday destinations.
The lock-on devices used by the protestors make it unsafe for security personnel or the police to simply pull them off the floor and specialist removal teams must be called in to painstakingly cut away the locks – a process that protestors know can make their protest action more disruptive.
Passengers desperate to get away on their summer holidays weren’t, however, willing to wait for the removal teams to arrive and pushed through the entrance to the security check point, stepping over the protestors to get to the departure gates.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Sussex Police said the force had arrested eight people on suspicion of interfering with public infrastructure. They remain in custody.
On Sunday, another ‘Just Stop Oil’ protestor was removed from Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport after holding up a sign in the Arrivals Hall which read “OIL KILLS”.
Heathrow Airport recently obtained a High Court injunction which bans anyone from taking part in protest activity at the airport. Last week, a group of ten Just Stop Oil supporters were nabbed by police on the outskirts of the airfield because it was feared they intended to break onto the runway and disrupt flights.
Airports across Europe are on high alert for environmental protestors intent on causing mass flight disruption after a series of direct action campaigns in Germany and elsewhere.
Last Thursday, protestors from the affiliated group ‘Last Generation” managed to break through a security fence at Frankfurt Airport and glue themselves to the runway. Frankfurt Airport said that at least 150 flights had to be cancelled while the protestors were removed by police.
