Folkestone & Hythe District Cllr Georgina Treloar arrested at Extinction Rebellion Protest in London
shepwayvox
Cllr Georgina Treloar (Green) has been arrested. She was arrested on Tuesday in London taking part in the Extinction Rebellion protests. We applaud her. Some of members of the Shepwayvox Team will no doubt be joining her soon, as they too are at the protest.
The logic of Extinction Rebellion is that peaceful, planned, pre-advised, protest should take place. And that it will be incredibly orderly, completely non-violent and the police should be aware of everything that is going to happen in advance. And what is more, those who are arrested basically offer themselves up to be so.
The thinking is extraordinary. It is best explained in the 80-page booklet by Roger Hallam, one of those behind the protests. We recommend reading it. We are not saying we agree with everything in it: but the planned process of change is deliberate, controlled and exceptionally difficult for the government to control as a consequence, precisely because so many will make themselves available to be arrested, in a controlled orderly fashion as happened here yesterday:
The justice system is not geared up to deal with John and the many others like him, who have literally nothing to fear from being arrested, and who the police know have to be treated with the utmost respect because the backlash if they were to suffer in confinement would be enormous. That is why so many older people are volunteering to be arrested: it is not chance.
And what happens as the protest grows? The evidence is that change happens.
We applaud Cllr Treloar for standing by her beliefs. In the coming days we suspect some of the Shepwayvox Team will also be arrested, as they too are demonstrating in London.
