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London (CNN) - An environmental activist climbed to the roof of an airplane on the runway at London City Airport on Thursday, as part of a series of protests at the site by the Extinction Rebellion group.
The videos show the man, identified by the group as the paraatleta James Brown, lying on the British Airways plane for more than 20 minutes while the authorities tried to help him get off.
Extinction Rebellion tries to "close" the fifth largest and most central airport in London from Thursday to Saturday, to protest against a planned expansion of the site that, according to the group, will make it "impossible" for the government to reach the carbon neutral status by 2050 .
Hundreds of activists blocked the main entrance of the site, while another delayed a flight two hours by giving a conference on climate change just before takeoff.
Passengers videotaped the man standing in the middle of his hall and reading aloud while Aer Lingus's flight to Dublin was preparing to leave.
He refused to sit down when a crew member approached him, before being escorted by the police.
"We have two generations of human civilization left if we continue to do what we are doing," said the protester, while passengers demanded and urged staff to take him off the flight.
Just about to take from London city airport. Our flight was infiltrated by a climate change protestor. #londoncityairport #ClimateChange pic.twitter.com/eWBeeUiGHM
- Warren Swalbe (@wazzas) October 10, 2019
The flight finally took off after 11 am local time.
Nicholas Watt, a BBC journalist on board the flight, tweeted: “The plane was at the end of the runway. So the pilot returned to the door, where the crowd of police officers met the plane. They got on board and escorted the protester out of the plane. ”
My flight from London City airport to Dublin has just been grounded by a climate change protestor. On runway and about to take off when smartly dressed man in late middle age stood up with iPhone to deliver lecture on climate change up and down aisle
- Nicholas Watt (@nicholaswatt) October 10, 2019
“And the final irony of the climate protest on our flight. We cannot take off until we have taken extra fuel ... to replace the fuel used during the protest, says our pilot with humor, ”added Watt. He said the passengers applauded the crew members for how they treated the protester.
Aer Lingus added in a statement that a man was removed from the flight for "disruptive behavior on board," before a plane security check was carried out.
The protests are part of the group's week of action in the capital and throughout the United Kingdom, which have seen closed roads near the Houses of Parliament and other landmarks. Demonstrations are also held in several other cities around the world.
A protester is arrested after refusing to sit on a flight to Dublin.
Lola Newton, an Edinburgh protester, told CNN: "I am here to support the disruption of things that must be interrupted to prevent climate collapse."
Newton added about the police response: “Sometimes it has been aggressive, but most of the British police are quite calm… go anywhere else in the world (and) this would not be possible, so I am very grateful for their behavior "
Cressida Dick, head of the London Metropolitan Police, said in a video statement on Thursday that more than 600 protesters have been arrested throughout London in the past two days.
"If you want to protest, you can go downtown Trafalgar Square," said Dick. "If you are protesting in the other places, you are acting illegally, we will arrest you, I imagine you will go to court and it is very likely that you will have a criminal record."
London Protests
