One of the founding members of Extinction Rebellion has said he will fly a drone near Heathrow Airport Saturday morning – hours after being released from
police custody.
Roger Hallam was one of five climate change activists from Heathrow Pause, an Extinction Rebellion splinter group, to be arrested on Thursday evening ahead of plans to cause mass disruption at the airport.
The stunt – which was set to involve flying toy drones within the airport’s 5km exclusion zone – is part of a campaign by the group to halt the planned expansion of Heathrow Airport, which includes the construction of a third runway.
Hallam was released from custody at 10pm Friday evening, however early on Saturday morning a spokesperson from Heathrow Pause stated on
Twitter that he planed to fly his drone at midday near the airport, with his exact location to be confirmed later. UPDATE: Roger Hallam, cofounder of Extinction Rebellion, will be flying his drone at 12 midday today near Heathrow. Location to be announced nearer the time. Roger was released from custody around 10pm last night.— Heathrow Pause (@HeathrowPause) September 14, 2019There has not yet been any disruption to air control and flight traffic is currently moving as normal.
On Thursday, the Met Police said it had arrested five people in total – three men and two women, including Hallam – on suspicion “of conspiracy to commit a public nuisance in relations to operations at Heathrow Airport”.
Nine people – three women and six men – were arrested in the early hours of Friday morning on suspicion of conspiracy to commit a public nuisance within the perimeter of Heathrow Airport.
A live-stream shared on the Heathrow Pause Twitter account showed activists struggling to get a drone off the ground, with the two men being filmed telling viewers they were experiencing technical difficulties. The device could be seen flashing red and green lights as the men held it above their head to little effect. Flights on Friday continued as normal.
Earlier this week, a senior Metropolitan officer advised Heathrow passengers to travel as normal and said they were “confident” disruption would be kept to a minimum.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said: “We will be arresting anybody who commits unlawful offences.
“We are really clear that it is unlawful, it is a criminal offence, and anybody who turns up expecting to fly drones in that exclusion zone will be arrested.”Related... Extinction Rebellion Lays ‘Bleeding’ Red Carpet To Protest
London Fashion Week Heathrow Drone Protest Fails To Get Off The Ground Following Public Nuisance Arrests Climate Change Protesters Arrested After Heathrow Drone Threat