JSO bring London to standstill again with slow march as Met arrest 35

Just Stop Oil bring London to a standstill again with their latest slow march as police move in to arrest 35 and clear the road

  • Met Police cleared A4 in Kensington in just 26 minutes after JSO blocked road
  • The Force said officers arrested 35 eco activists disrupting Londoners today 

Just Stop Oil activists brought London to a standstill yet again this morning with their second slow march this week in the capital – as the Met Police moved in to arrest 35 protesters and clear the road in just 26 minutes.

This comes just a day after JSO complained about strict bail conditions imposed on some eco activists which banned them from entering London to join the disruptive protests.

This marks the second day of the activists’ 30-day campaign of disruption on an ‘unprecedented scale’, after more than 60 were arrested in Parliament Square on Monday.

The Met said on X, formerly Twitter, at 9.12am that officers were ‘responding to a number of Just Stop Oil activists’ on the A4 West Cromwell Road in Kensington. The force pledged to ‘respond quickly to minimise disruption for Londoners’.

Officers arrived within four minutes of receiving the report of the protest and asked the protesters to leave the A4 under threat of a ‘move to an arrest phase’.

Activists from Just Stop Oil being arrested as they form a rolling protest on the Cromwell Road in Kensington, west London this morning

The Met Police said officers arrested more than 30 JSO activists on the A4 this morning after the eco zealots brought London to a standstill for the second time this week

Dozens of Just Stop Oil activists block traffic on the A4 Cromwell Road in central London

The force then tweeted at 9.23am that officers were arresting activists for breaching Section Seven of the Public Order Act (2023), as others ‘left of their own accord’.

At 9.35am, the Met provided an update saying: ‘All the activists are now out of the road and the A4 is moving freely.

‘We will confirm arrest numbers shortly, but it’s thought to be more than 30.’

The Met later confirmed that 35 arrests had been made and that the West Cromwell Road within just 26 minutes.

Video of the beginning of the protest shows dozens of activists donning their trademark orange hi-vis jackets emblazoned with the JSO logo as they step into the street with with large banners to block traffic.

Drivers immediately start blaring their horns at the activists, with one disgruntled van driver mounting the pavement to get past the blockade.

Posting on X, JSO said this morning: ‘DAY 2: 45 Just Stop Oil Supporters Marching for No New Oil.

‘Ordinary people are slow marching in Earls Court today to demand no new oil and gas.’

Activist Gabriella, who came in from Wales to attend the slow march, said: ‘We need to stand up and make ourselves heard.

‘The government need to be brought to account, well at least the police do.’

JSO added that she was ‘marching against our criminal government’s genocidal licensing of new oil and gas’.

Video shows drivers blaring their horns at the activists, with one disgruntled van driver mounting the pavement to get past the blockade

The Met tweeted at 9.23am that officers were arresting activists for breaching Section Seven of the Public Order Act (2023), as others ‘left of their own accord’

Police engaging with Just Stop Oil protesters who blocked a road in Kensington this morning

The Met Police has said that they believe more than 30 JSO activists have been arrested

After Monday’s Parliament Square protest, the Metropolitan Police said that 31 protesters were charged, with 17 bailed ahead of court appearances and 14 remanded in custody.

A bail conditions letter shared by JSO yesterday said that the activists were barred from the capital to ‘prevent further offences’.

It read: ‘Not to enter London, inside the perimeter of the M25 motorway unless answering bail at a police station, attending a court hearing or to visit a solicitor by prior appointment.’

Responding to the bail conditions, the group said: ‘The Met Police like to say they want to ‘facilitate’ protests.

‘The conditions imposed on people arrested show otherwise. No protesting in the street in London… In fact don’t even enter London… we want the police to investigate the real criminals.’

It comes after Scotland Yard told eco zealots it was ‘unacceptable’ that officer time and resources were being wasted at a time of surging hate crime and heightened fears of a terror attack prompted by the Israel-Gaza conflict.

Dozens of officers and police vehicles were taken away from other frontline duties during Monday’s protest, which saw activists in orange hi-vis jackets blocking roads and ‘slow marching’ until they were arrested.

Met Commander Kyle Gordon said: ‘This is an extremely busy time for officers across London who are providing reassurance to communities following the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

‘It’s unacceptable that we are having to remove officers, who are carrying out vital work in their communities at a time where there is a large number of hate crime being reported to us, to police Just Stop Oil.

‘We also know the majority of the public has reached their tolerance with Just Stop Oil, which on occasion is over- spilling into violence. It’s clear the public has had enough.’

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