100 Extinction Rebellion protestors stage 'die-in' at London museum
More than 100 people lay down in a “die-in” at the Natural History Museum in London today, disrupting public visits in protest at politician’s failure to confront climate change.
The Extinction Rebellion stunt saw protestors lie on the ground in a main hall the giant blue whale skeleton at the popular museum on a busy day over the bank holiday weekend.
The disruption came in spite of a pledge by a spokesman for the activists that there would be no escalation of their actions on Easter Monday.
It came as police confirmed more than 1,000 people had been arrested over the climate change protests so far, which have seen major roads blocked off by protestors in central London.
Demand 01 – #TellTheTruth
Government must tell the truth by declaring a climate 🔥 and ecological 🥀emergency 🚨, working with other institutions to communicate 📢 the urgency for change.
Thread 1/3https://t.co/LAcU4nmAIP
— Extinction Rebellion 🐝⌛️🦋 (@ExtinctionR) April 21, 2019
But only 53 people have been charged over the wave of civil disobedience, aimed at raising awareness of the damage caused by climate change and forcing faster action from government to reduce emissions.
Waterloo Bridge was cleared overnight and Oxford Circus and Parliament Square have both been re-opened over the weekend.
The Metropolitan Police, which has been criticised for failing to do more to end the disruption for London commuters, has now sanctioned a protest space at Marble Arch, and is encouraging protestors to move there.
The group now face difficult choices about how far to continue to stage disruptive protests, and whether they should seek to negotiate with the London mayor or government to pressure them to adopt greener policies.