A Just Stop Oil protester who blocked the Dartford Crossing has compared himself and others in the group to Dr Martin Luther King and the Suffragettes.
Morgan Trowland, 39, was one of two demonstrators who attached themselves to the masts of the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge more than 200ft (60m) above the River Thames.
The toll bridge, which connects Essex and Kent, was closed since the pair scaled the structure in the early hours of Monday morning.
Police said on Tuesday they had arrived at the bridge with a "raised platform" to "allow specialists to work at height and continue meaningful engagement with two people".
Around 5pm, a statement from bridge design engineer Mr Trowland and his fellow demonstrator, identified as Marcus, a 33-year-old teacher, said they were ending their protest after they "successfully disrupted oil supplies to Kent and the South East for 36 hours".
The pair, from London, said: "We are stepping down now but other supporters of Just Stop Oil will be stepping up day after day, causing disruption and putting their liberty on the line to demand that the government ends new oil and gas."
The activists have now been removed from the bridge by police and arrested.
Essex Police tweeted that "a decision on how and when to open the road" rests with National Highways.
Speaking to Sky News from the structure before he was brought down, Mr Trowland said: "Many people will get angry about this and I understand that anger.
"But in other times in history the Suffragettes were widely hated by most of the population. For decades they did much more extreme acts of disobedience.
"Martin Luther King was reviled in America in the early 1960s - sometimes people hate the thing that needs to come next."
Marcus said: "Only direct action will now help to reach the social tipping point we so urgently need."
The closure of the M25 at the crossing caused delays of two hours during rush hour on Monday, with six miles of congestion on the anti-clockwise carriageway and five miles in the opposite direction, National Highways said.
Commuters saw similar disruption on Tuesday morning after the group said the activists would remain on the bridge's masts for as long as possible.
Asked if he was sorry to those affected, Mr Trowland said: "I know it's awful to be disrupted and it's frustrating, but I would ask people disrupted by this to have a thought and empathy for the 33 million people in Pakistan this summer who have been driven out of their homes by floodwaters caused by the climate crisis, caused by our oil and gas, developed here in Britain.
"I'm not sorry for trying to protect the land, my people, I'm not sorry."
Just Stop Oil says it will continue with "non-violent civil disobedience" throughout autumn and winter until the government revokes newly granted oil and gas licences it says are "frankly a death sentence".
'We didn't bring ropes to come down'
Asked earlier when he planned to come down, Mr Trowland added: "We're figuring that out.
"We didn't bring long enough ropes to come down because that would be too heavy."
Essex Police said officers were called shortly before 3.50am on Monday to a report that two people had climbed onto the bridge at the Dartford Crossing.
In an updated statement on Tuesday afternoon, they said: "I know this situation is incredibly frustrating, but we are doing everything possible to resolve this situation as quickly and as safely as possible.
"We are not in any way anti-protest. However, it is unacceptable for people to think they can put lives in danger and selfishly stop others going about their lives and the public rightly expect us to take action against anyone who believes they can do this - and we will."
Mr Trowland revealed he balanced in a hammock, but almost "bottled it" at the first hurdle.
"The very first step I almost bottled it. Getting onto the cable… was just terrifying," he said.
On Sunday, members of the campaign group sprayed an Aston Martin showroom with orange paint and a few days earlier threw tomato soup over Van Gogh masterpiece Sunflowers.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMilQFodHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS9qdXN0LXN0b3Atb2lsLXByb3Rlc3Rlci13aG8tYmxvY2tlZC1kYXJ0Zm9yZC1jcm9zc2luZy1jb21wYXJlcy1oaW1zZWxmLXRvLW1hcnRpbi1sdXRoZXIta2luZy1hbmQtdGhlLXN1ZmZyYWdldHRlcy0xMjcyMzQzNNIBmQFodHRwczovL25ld3Muc2t5LmNvbS9zdG9yeS9hbXAvanVzdC1zdG9wLW9pbC1wcm90ZXN0ZXItd2hvLWJsb2NrZWQtZGFydGZvcmQtY3Jvc3NpbmctY29tcGFyZXMtaGltc2VsZi10by1tYXJ0aW4tbHV0aGVyLWtpbmctYW5kLXRoZS1zdWZmcmFnZXR0ZXMtMTI3MjM0MzQ?oc=5
2022-10-18 17:00:35Z
1599152696
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar