Police were called to London City Airport at after nine protestors “locked themselves together” blocking runway traffic.
Activists in support of BLMUK #Shutdown London City Airport to protest the UK’s environmental impact on black people pic.twitter.com/7LvFnB9Pv3
— #BlackLivesMatterUK (@ukblm) September 6, 2016
The UK Black Lives Matter group is claiming responsibility for the stunt.
“Whilst at London City Airport a small elite is able to fly, in 2016 alone 3,176 migrants are known to have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean.
“Black people are the first to die, not the first to fly, in this racist climate crisis. “We note, however, that the UK is willing to charter special flights to remove black people from the country based on their immigration status.”
It added: “This action was taken in order to highlight the UK’s environmental impact on the lives of black people locally and globally.
“As the largest per capita contributor to global temperature change, and yet among the least vulnerable to its deadly effects, the UK leads in ensuring that our climate crisis is a racist crisis.”
Scotland Yard was negotiating with the protestors.
Climate crisis is a racist crisis. 7/10 of the countries most affected by climate change are in sub-Saharan Africa. pic.twitter.com/TN3AZc2ldG — #BlackLivesMatterUK (@ukblm) September 6, 2016
How did the protestors breach the perimeter of the airport and get on the runway? It’s possible the group used a boat or swam across the Thames river, authorities suspect.
Flights were being diverted and the airport hopes to “resume operations as soon as possible”.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member