A former Paralympic cyclist and Extinction Rebellion
protester glued himself to the top of a British Airways plane at
London City Airport on Friday. The man named James Brown, who is
visually impaired, reportedly smuggled in a tube of glue and
proceeded to glue himself on the jet.
The 54-year-old, who won a bronze medal at London 2012, was seen
in a Facebook video released by Extinction Rebellion expressing how
scared he was. “Here I am on top of a f****** airplane at City
Airport. I hate heights, I’m s******* myself, I managed to get on
the roof. I am so shaky,” he said in the video.
He then proceeded to ask why the U.K. government sanctions
the expansion of airports around the country when the world is in a
state of climate emergency.
“This is all about the climate and ecological crisis, we’re
protesting against government inaction on climate and ecological
breakdown. They declare a climate emergency and then do nothing
about it,” he continued to say.
“In fact they go the opposite direction, they sanction the
expansion of airports, Heathrow, Bristol and others. We can’t let
this go on, we can’t have our cake and eat it.”
The brave protester was not without fear. Once noticing security
was coming he said, “Oh good security are coming. I hope they don’t
take too long because this is f****** scary.”
Civil disobedience
Extinction Rebellion is a socio-political grassroots
movement with the stated aim of using civil disobedience, and zero
violence, to push for government action on climate change,
biodiversity loss, and the risk of social and ecological
collapse. According
to The Guardian[1], over 1,00 Extinction
Rebellion protesters have been arrested this week alone.
What do you think of the group’s tactic? Will they inspire
change or are they just publicity stunts?
References
- ^
According to The Guardian
(www.theguardian.com)