Around 300+ protesters were brought to a standstill today on St.Vincent Street, Glasgow, by police officers.
Part of the city centre was blocked off as climate protesters targeted the buildings of big companies such as J.P Morgan, Bank of Scotland and SSE Energy on ‘Finance Day’ at COP26.
Protesters intended to create awareness and protest peacefully by walking through the city centre and ending their march at COP26.
However, while walking through the city, protesters were herded into St.Vincent Street after a ‘heavy police presence’ arrived and surrounded protesters on every side.
Once protesters had passed the barricade of officers, they were not allowed back inside, and journalists were also denied entry to conduct interviews.
According to protesters, they were denied food, water and the use of toilets.
At one point, after two hours of being held in St.Vincent Street, protesters began to chant ‘Let us go’.
Two people were arrested at the protest after spraying police officers with paint.
Police Scotland released a statement after the arrests were made. Assistant Chief Constable Gary Ritchie said: “Police Scotland is facilitating a number of protests across Glasgow city centre this afternoon.”
“During one of these protests, a number of officers were assaulted after being sprayed with paint.”
“Two arrests have been made in relation to this so far, and cans of spray paint have been seized.”
One protester Elaine Jack said: “a lot of people were going up to the front of the line, by the police, and we were singing songs of love and giving them words of encouragement.”
“The police then asked us to stand back, which we did, then again, and a third and fourth time, but by the fourth time, they weren’t asking; they were forcibly pushing us.”
“It’s quite alarming the aggression coming from the police.”
“This is a reaction of fear because the government and police know that protesters are in the right. They know, all these delegates and heads of state, they know in their heart of hearts what is right to do by the people of this planet, and most of them are not doing it.”
“So there’s now this great fear our voices are being heard too much, and they want us off of the streets.”
After hours of waiting, protesters were escorted by police to the COP26 venue, the Scottish Event Campus (SEC).
Featured Image Credit : Robyn Duffy
BA (Hons) Film, Media and Journalism graduate. Freelance Journalist for Brig Newspaper and Entertainment Daily. Head of Social Media for Brig Newspaper.
Passionate about diversity, inclusion and representation.
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