After the Kingsnorth Climate Camp in August last year I heard that the police had been in overwhelming numbers and that there had been some “clashes” with the protestors. But I could never imagine how ruthless the actions from the UK police actually were against the peaceful and legal protestors until I saw this video:

Earlier this month Lib Dem MP David Howarth held a press conference in Westminster to present a “highly disturbing and potentially explosive report” about how the police in the UK turning into a police state by “criminalising legitimate protest”.

“The report, produced by the Climate Camp’s legal support team and entitled Policing of the Kingsnorth Climate Camp: Preventing Disorder or Preventing Protest?, is devastating for the police.

It documents a concerted campaign by police to deter, smear, intimidate, harass, and criminalise UK citizens who did nothing more than attempt to exercise their right to peaceful protest in the name of an important cause. The following film accompanies the report and fully conveys the extent of the scandal.”

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Photo credit: izzie_whizzie

Yesterday it was revealed that on November 28 one activist managed to breach the coal-powered Kingsnorth plant, one of the most heavily guarded power stations in Britain. The activist singlehandedly managed to get in, stop the power station and get out the same way without being noticed or caught by the security on site.

The £12m defences of the most heavily guarded power station in Britain have been breached by a single person who, under the eyes of CCTV cameras, climbed two three-metre (10ft) razor-wired, electrified security fences, walked into the station and crashed a giant 500MW turbine before leaving a calling card reading “no new coal”. He walked out the same way and hopped back over the fence.

As a result the coal-powered Kingsnorth plant was shut down for hours, which apparently reduced the climate change emissions in the UK by 2%.

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Last week the verdict came in the case against the six Greenpeace activists – Ben Stewart, Will Rose, Kevin Drake, Tim Hewke, Huw Williams and Emily Hall – who in October last year performed a protest against the Kingsnorth coal plant in the UK.

The six Greenpeace activists tried to shut down the coal plant and paint ‘GORDON BIN IT’ down the side of the coal plant’s chimney. For this they were accused of criminally causing £30,000 ($53,000) worth of damage.

But last week the UK Crown Court jury acquitted all six activists which Greenpeace says resulted in a “landmark global warming trial“. The jury “found their actions justified when considering the damage to property caused around the world by CO2 emissions from the plant”.

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