Met Police Arrest Just Stop Oil Organisers Over Airport Disruption Plans

Undated photo showing the New Scotland Yard sign outside the Metropolitan Police headquarters in London. (Kirsty O’Connor/PA Media)

Six Just Stop Oil protesters have been arrested, some of whom are believed to be “key organisers,” over plans to disrupt airports, according to the Metropolitan Police.

On Thursday night, the six were arrested during an event at an east London community centre.

Just Stop Oil filmed their own arrests, uploading the footage onto social media platform X and said that police “have just raided a soup night in London.”

Public Order Act

They were detained under the Public Order Act, which makes it illegal to conspire to disrupt national infrastructure.

The Epoch Times understands that the numbers of arrests could be higher.

A statement from the Metropolitan Police said: “We know Just Stop Oil plan to disrupt airports and thousands of holidaymakers this summer.

“Tonight, our officers made six arrests during an event at an east London community centre.

“We believe some of those in custody are key organisers for Just Stop Oil.

“We continue to work with airport operators and others to prevent significant disruption.

“Activists do not have the right to commit criminal acts that may also endanger themselves and others.

“Anyone who disrupts the safety and security of an airport can expect to be dealt with swiftly and robustly.”

Activists with Just Stop Oil glue their hands to the wall after throwing soup at Vincent van Gogh's "Sunflowers" at the National Gallery in London, on Oct. 14, 2022. (Just Stop Oil/Handout via Reuters)

Protests

Just Stop Oil is protesting the government awarding new oil contracts to businesses and is behind a wave of actions, such as vandalism and blocking access to petrol stations and parts of the UK’s busiest motorway.

A spin-off from Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil says it gets most of its funding—which it claims is “for recruitment, training, capacity building, and education”—from the Climate Emergency Fund. It is the biggest recipient of the fund, receiving $1.1 million.

The Climate Emergency Fund itself is funded by the oil heirs from the Getty and Rockefeller families Aileen Getty, Rebecca Rockefeller Lambert, and Peter Gill Case.

The Climate Emergency Fund has awarded millions to an international network of activists which they call the “disruptive arm of the global climate movement.”

Just Stop Oil has an account with an Australian-founded crowdfunding platform called Chuffed. The site is a vehicle for progressive causes, with one account raising funds so that Nigerian progressives can pursue a “socialist revolution.”

Just Stop Oil said in a statement: “Continuing to extract and burn oil, gas and coal is an act of war against humanity that will result in unimaginable suffering and destroy the lives and livelihoods of billions of people. No one has ever voted for this, there has never been a democratic mandate to destroy the habitable world.”