Nine charged with trespass after Black Lives Matter protest blocked City Airport runway

City Airport: The runway was blocked after protesters tied themselves to a tripod
Danielo Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images
Chloe Chaplain7 September 2016
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Police have charged nine people with trespass after a Black Lives Matter protest caused chaos at London City Airport.

Flights at the airport were grounded after protesters got onto the runway and chained themselves to a tripod.

Police were called and negotiated for more than five hours with the group, before removing and arresting them.

Today William Pettifer, 27, Esme Waldron, 23, Deborah Francis-Grayson, 31, Richard Collet-White, 23, Ben Tippet, 24, Sama Baka, 27, Natalie Fiennes, 25, Alex Etchart, 26, and Sam Lund-Harket, 32 were charged in connection with the incident.

Race protest: A black Lives Matter demonstration in Whitechapel
Sally Hayden

All nine have been charged with aggravated trespass and being unlawfully airside within a restricted area of an aerodrome.

The protestors sparked criticism yesterday after people accused them of “appropriating someone else’s struggle”, with some people labelling them “hipster-looking flower-crowners”.

Others supported their actions, writing “we are with you” on Twitter and adding: “The only people affected at London City Airport are bankers/bourgeois. They affect me by making me pay tax so good on #BlackLivesMatter.”

The alleged trespass is believed to be in protest against the airport's expansion.

Black Lives Matter’s UK division released a statement saying: "Recently London City Airport was given approval to expand its capacity, a move that consigns the local community in Newham to further deterioration of their environment.

“The average salary of a London City Airport user is £114,000 and 63 per cent of them work in business, finance or other business services.

"It is an airport designed for the wealthy. At the same time 40 per cent of Newham's population struggle to survive on £20,000 or less.

“When black people in Britain are 28 per cent more likely to be exposed to air pollution than their white counterparts, we know that environmental inequality is a racist crisis."

A Met police spokesman said the protestors have been released on bail and are due to appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court on September14.

He added: “Police were called at 05:40am to reports of protesters who had made their way onto the runway and locked themselves together.

“Officers began removing the protesters from the runway at approximately 09:30hrs and made arrests shortly after.”

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