Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg has slammed the Met Police ban on Extinction Rebellion’s protests in London, saying “the rules must be broken”.
On Monday, police made it illegal for two or more Extinction Rebellion demonstrators to assemble in the capital, clearing protesters from Trafalgar Square.
“Police have banned peaceful, nonviolent Extinction Rebellion protests in London,” Thunberg wrote in an Instagram post.
“Amnesty UK says it is ‘an unlawful constraint of our rights to #FreedomofExpression and peaceful assembly’,” she said.
“If standing up against the climate and ecological breakdown and for humanity is against the rules then the rules must be broken.”
The ban has sparked outrage among campaigners, with civil rights group Liberty calling it “grossly disproportionate”.
Meanwhile, shadow home secretary Diane Abbott called the ban “outrageous”, saying it was “contrary to our traditions of freedom of speech”.
“I will be writing to the home secretary about this today,” she said in a tweet.
Following the news on Tuesday that Extinction Rebellion was set to launch legal action against the ban, lawyers for the group applied for a judicial review at the High Court on Wednesday.
But deputy assistant commissioner Laurence Taylor – who is leading the policing of the XR demonstrations – insisted that the ban is legal, saying he is “completely comfortable” with the action the force has taken.
“We are very confident that what we’ve done is entirely lawful, entirely proportionate in the circumstances, and we are completely comfortable with the position that we maintain,” he said.
Extinction Rebellion activists have defied the ban, with visits to the offices of Google and YouTube, as well as a rally at Trafalgar Square.
To date, 1,642 protesters have been arrested, while 133 have been charged.
On Thursday, the group plans to disrupt the Tube network in London in order to call more attention to its campaign. Taylor called the move “unacceptable”.
“Tomorrow Extinction Rebellion have explicitly said they intend to target the Underground network,” he said.
“That will cause huge disruption for London, and we consider that wholly unacceptable, and obviously will be policing that with our partners at British Transport Police.
“It will cause a huge impact to London and all the commuters and everybody using the Underground network. Obviously we will be policing that proactively and robustly.”