Press release Archives - Page 3 of 57 - Extinction Rebellion UK

Press release

Rowan Williams, Emma Thompson, Ben Okri, Brian Eno, Es Devlin, Sir David King, Prof. James Hansen sign open letter in support of HSBC 9

Public figures from across the arts, climate science, the economy, faith and more have signed an open letter in support of 9 women who were acquitted last week for breaking windows at HSBC’s HQ in Canary Wharf in 2021. The signatories are calling for the bank to be held accountable for their enormous fossil fuel investments: over £80 billion pounds in the 5 years after the Paris Climate Agreement was signed. "The world stands ablaze in front of us yet, as the case of these women shows, it is not illegal for banks such as HSBC to profit from destroying life on Earth. With billions invested in fossil fuels in the five years since the Paris Climate Agreement, we can’t help but wonder how many deaths these billions will have caused already? Why do such heinous crimes continue to go unpunished?”

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Jury finds women who broke HSBC windows ‘not guilty’

In a decision which vindicates the actions of nine women who broke the windows of Europe’s second largest investor in fossil fuels, HSBC, a jury at Southwark Crown Court today returned a verdict of ‘not guilty’ after just two hours deliberating. Celebrated British fashion designer Stella McCartney CBE, who designed the clothing for Team GB in the London 2012 Olympics, dressed the HSBC 9 women for court, lending them shirts, blazers and suits to wear during the trial. The verdict came after a three week trial, where just over half a million pounds worth of damage by the nine women was set against the £80 billion of fossil fuels investments by HSBC in the five years following the Paris Climate Agreement, when over 195 nations pledged to keep global temperatures below 1.5 degrees.

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Empty shoes for lost lives: Extinction Rebellion’s heartbreak plea for a ceasefire in Gaza

XR parents place hundreds of childrens' shoes in Trafalgar Square and call for immediate ceasefire In a moving ceremony in London’s Trafalgar Square today (Saturday), parents from Extinction Rebellion placed hundreds of empty childrens’ shoes at the world-famous landmark to represent all the young Israeli and Palestinian lives lost in the ongoing fighting.

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XR occupies Daily Telegraph offices

Extinction Rebellion today (10 November) peacefully occupied the offices of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph newspapers to protest about their campaign of lies and disinformation aimed at stopping urgent action to tackle the accelerating climate crisis.

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Dr Gail Bradbrook, Extinction Rebellion co-founder, ‘at peace’ with guilty verdict for breaking department of transport window

Dr Gail Bradbrook, the co-founder of Extinction Rebellion, was found guilty of criminal damage today after she broke a window at the Department of Transport in October 2019. She will be sentenced on 18 December. The jury’s verdict came less than an hour after the Judge told jurors that Dr Bradbrook had no defence in law and that her motivation was not relevant. Despite being repeatedly threatened with contempt of court and a jury-only trial Dr Bradbrook would not be silenced and argued that authorities should be prosecuting the politicians and corporations causing criminal damage on a ‘planetary scale’, not the ordinary people trying to stop harm.

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Jury acquits Extinction Rebellion for Treasury Fire Engine action and Crown drops remaining trials after Judge suggests ‘not in public interest’

Defendant Liam Norton, a 38-year old electrician from South London, said: “The jury’s verdict was a victory for common sense and a victory against the Treasury who, as our action highlighted, funded new fossil fuel projects abroad for five years after the adoption of the Paris Agreement. The Treasury continues to be complicit in mass death and suffering from climate breakdown by financing the development of new oil and gas fields in the North Sea including Rosebank. This ensures we can never keep within safe climate limits. This trial was never in the public interest. When will the Treasury be put on trial for criminal negligence?”

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Trial begins of XR co-founder Dr Gail Bradbrook amid threat to trial by jury

On Monday 30 October, 5 years after she stood with Greta Thunberg in Parliament Square to launch the ‘Declaration of Rebellion’, Dr Gail Bradbrook stands trial at Isleworth Crown Court for breaking a window at the Department of Transport in October 2019 - an act of resistance against the Department’s policies (such as support for HS2, Heathrow expansion and road building) in the midst of the climate and nature emergency. Dr Bradbrook, a mother of two, who holds a doctorate in molecular biophysics from the University of Manchester, is at risk of a substantial prison sentence if found guilty. The trial comes amid mounting concerns that, following intense lobbying on behalf of the fossil fuel industry, the right to trial by jury is under threat for those taking direct action to expose Government lies and corporate greed.

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