LONDON, Oct. 16 -- London police officers do not sit on their hands in the face of hardened environmental protesters who reportedly had an intention to cause serious disruption over the past 10 days in the center of the British capital.
IMPORTANT VENUES TARGETED
Hundreds of protesters, organized by Extinction Rebellion, descended on Trafalgar Square again on Wednesday afternoon in defiance of a police "ban" on their "autumn uprising" protests in London.
Environmental activists walked a "Trojan horse" around embassies in London on Wednesday to highlight ecocide while mothers and babies gathered outside Google's headquarters to blockade the doors in another protest.
There are plans to target the London subway network on Thursday. Police said that it is "totally unacceptable" to shut down the Tube system.
This led to the Met Police imposing conditions, telling those involved in the "autumn uprising" they face arrest should they continue.
The group has been demonstrating across London since last Monday in order to push the British government into taking more actions on climate change.
This is part of a global push to highlight the issue of climate change as demonstrations were reported in such other cities as Amsterdam, Berlin, New York and Sydney.
The environmental activists have succeeded in closing off Lambeth Bridge and the Mall last week and plan to shut down key other key sites in central London, including Westminster Bridge, in addition to protests outside government departments.
Extinction Rebellion said the protests will be five times bigger than the demonstrations in April which brought parts of London to a standstill.
FIRM POLICE ACTIONS
With the approval of London police commissioner Cressida Dick, the protesters were given a 48-hour notice that Trafalgar Square in the downtown area could be cleared.
Stephen House, the deputy commissioner, said, "It must now cease because it's going on for 10 days."
Protesters have blocked roads and glued themselves to buildings in high profile spots, including some government buildings in London to further their demands, with more than 1,600 arrested over the past week.
On Tuesday, the group's co-founder, Gail Bradbrook, was arrested shortly after she climbed on top of building doorway of the British Department for Transport in Westminster.
The Met Police said that 92 protesters have been charged with offences including failing to comply with a condition imposed under section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986, criminal damage and obstruction of a highway.
The police force is paying a heavy financial and operational price. The operations have so far cost 16 million pounds (20.56 million U.S. dollars) and seen officers drafted across the country, local media reports said.
The activists, who form part of a movement taking action in cities across the world, took to the streets in the British capital last Monday, kicking off two weeks of demonstrations demanding stronger action on climate change.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged London police to use the "full force of the law" against them.
GOV'T BACKS POLICE
Lawyers supporting Extinction Rebellion have been granted an emergency high court hearing in regards to the Met Police "ban" over the groups protests. The case will have a directions hearing starting on Thursday.
In response, British Home Secretary Priti Patel on Wednesday issued a powerful defense of Scotland Yard's handling of the environmental protests, saying that she wanted to make it clear to police officers that "I have their backs."
The "much more robust" police force response had been justified because of the tactics used by the climate change protesters over the past week.
Strong defense is also from a British government spokesman, who said, "While we share people's concerns about global warming, and respect the right to peaceful protest, it should not disrupt people's day-to-day lives."