Extinction Rebellion’s latest protest targeting the
London Underground took an ugly turn on Thursday morning, after a demonstrator was dragged from the top of a train carriage and set upon by angry commuters.
Footage posted to social media shows two men standing on top of a stationary train at Canning Town station, holding a sign that reads “Business as usual = death”.
Commuters trying to board appeared to be shouting and threw drinks at the men before one was dragged into the crowd.Shocking moment angry commuters drag two #ExtinctionRebellion protestors off the top of a train in Canning Town and attack them. pic.twitter.com/EZAMa9tT2t— Mahatir Pasha (@mahatir_pasha) October 17, 2019A member of Transport for London (TfL) staff appeared to stop people from attacking the male activist further by intervening and holding them back.
British Transport
police said there had been four arrests so far at Stratford and Canning Town on the Jubilee Line.
“We remain at Shadwell DLR station, where specialist teams are working to remove four other
protesters,” it added.Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, condemned the Extinction Rebellion (XR)
protests, saying in a statement the “illegal action is extremely dangerous, counterproductive and is causing unacceptable disruption to Londoners who use public transport to get to work”.
He added: “It is also an unfair burden on our already overstretched police officers. I urge demonstrators to protest peacefully and within the boundaries of the law.”I strongly condemn the Extinction Rebellion protestors who have targeted the London Underground and DLR this morning. My full statement: pic.twitter.com/F30mzeYY12— Mayor of London (@MayorofLondon) October 17, 2019Jim Fitzpatrick,
Labour MP for Poplar and Limehouse, said on Twitter: “So what point is Extinction Rebellion making shutting down East London’s PUBLIC Transport system preventing ordinary people getting to work/school/hospital etc?!!” So what point is Extinction Rebellion making shutting down East London’s PUBLIC Transport system preventing ordinary people getting to work/school/hospital etc? !!— Jim Fitzpatrick (@FitzMP) October 17, 2019(Infographic supplied by Statista)