Marlborough Extinction Rebellion protestor Jo Ripley was arrested in Whitehall outside the Cabinet Office during the recent XR ‘International Action’ campaign.
Arrested, but not (as yet) charged as she was unable to consult an independent solicitor prior to being interviewed by the Police, so released pending investigation.
Held overnight at Brixton Police Station and let out at dawn the following morning, Jo was very positive towards the Police and the attitude they took: ”I appreciated the good treatment that I received from the Police and also support from some individual officers for the reasons behind my decision to be arrested as part of the growing international non-violent, direct action acting as an alarm about the climate and ecological emergency.”
The arrest isn’t going to deter her from any future action and risk of detention. She added: “Campaigning over many years by all other conventional actions have failed in the face of powerful political and economic interests that have blocked change, as well as the failure of Governments to tell the truth of the crisis and now, in the words of the UN Secretary General António Guterres, ‘We face a direct existential threat…Our fate is in our hands.’”
Will she end up being charged? Many of those arrested earlier this year in the first major XR protest are still awaiting decisions regarding future teratment, and Jo pointed out that in her opinion “the decision about whether we are all charged may be a political one.”