The Metropolitan Police said that police presence in City of London will be increased on Monday, after six pro Palestinian activists were arrested. They are suspected of plotting to disrupt the opening of London Stock Exchange.
The Met stated that the six activists “intented to target the London Stock Exchange in the early morning hours of Monday 15th January, causing damages and locking on” in an attempt to prevent the building from opening for trading.
Met said that the plot was similar to tactics used by environmentalists such as Just Stop Oil who had attached themselves to buildings and made it difficult for police officers to arrest them. The police did not know what impact the protest could have had on the markets if it had gone ahead.
The LSE does not conduct physical trading, so there is no way that the trading could have been affected. The LSE declined comment.
A 31-year old man was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to cause criminal damages in Liverpool. Five other people believed to be involved in the same plot were also detained later in Liverpool, London and Brighton.
These are important arrests. “We believe that this group was prepared to commit a destructive and disruptive stunt, which would have been serious if it had been successful,” said Detective Superintendent Sian Toms of the Met Police, the UK’s largest police force.
Palestine Action is known for its direct actions to disrupt multinational weapons dealers. In recent years, it has targeted companies that provide arms used in the Israel/Palestine conflict.
Members of the group were charged with rooftop protests and other acts at Elbit Systems factories in the UK, an Israeli military contractor and technology company.
Daily Express, a newspaper in the UK, had provided information to the Met about the planned protests on Monday at the Stock Exchange. The Daily Express reported that the group had intended to stop workers from entering the stock exchange building on Monday. The force said it was “fairly certain” that the arrests on Sunday had prevented any disruption. City of London Police would also be deploying officers in the vicinity on Monday.
The planned protest on Monday was meant to be the beginning of a week of action by Palestine Action. Police said that they were still gathering information about the “week of actions”.
A Met spokesperson said: “We’re in touch with the City of London Police and other forces in the UK to make sure that the appropriate resources are available to deal with disruptions in the next few days.”
Tens of thousands marched through London’s central area on Saturday, the latest in a series of mass demonstrations that have been held in recent weeks to protest Israel’s offensive against the Gaza Strip. This offensive has resulted in the deaths of over 23,000 Palestinians.