To the 126 who wrote and signed the letter of solidarity with the nine women who smashed HSBC’s windows, and the jury who found them ‘not guilty’.
We thank you for the support shown for those who have taken action, and resisted a harmful state. We see that those who signed include Marcus Decker and the recently released Morgan Trowland, who received long prison sentences for daring to act to defend life on earth.
As the jury at Isleworth Crown Court after four weeks acquit Valerie Brown but find Roger Hallam and Dr Larch Maxey guilty of conspiracy to commit public nuisance and a Manchester Judge commits Stephen Gingell to prison for walking on a London road, we would like to agree with the final paragraphs of your letter:
“It is now incumbent upon all good people of conscience to rise up as these women have, to pull together and find our collective power. We must all take the most effective action we can, find our courage and work in firm opposition to the dereliction of our only home.
“We support all courageous and loving people who stand and fight for justice and the continuation of life on Earth. We will do everything we can to support them, and to play our part in building a new world where life is sacred.”
The stakes are shockingly high: billions of deaths, the loss of the habitable world and ordered civil society. It’s not just about whales and polar bears anymore, important though they are. It’s every right and freedom that has been struggled and fought for lost, every cherished place, every culture, and every tradition gone. Given this, we who have been jailed and fined, who have been injuncted and arrested, we ask that you act on your words. Join us on the street and in the prisons and use your platforms to inspire and mobilise countless others to join.
The law is important and public order is precious. It makes us feel safe and it protects the weak from the strong. Therefore the justification to break the law must be very strong. The reason to disrupt must be justified. Well, the situation today is that the law is allowing the continuing destruction of the future, public order is allowing the harm to continue, and business as usual is licensing the destruction of global societies. That is genuine justification. So, to protect the common good there is a requirement to disrupt the public order and to break the law.
Our political system is failing us or we wouldn’t be here. Apart from the super rich, everyone in the country wants action to protect and defend our common future. We need to get together, support each other, and get on with the job. We owe it to our children – what could be more important than that?
1.5° has died. Now is the time to live life as a wonderful precious miracle worth defending. Join us.
Contact: [email protected]
Signed
James Brown: Paralympian, social entrepreneur and activist.
Arrested 13 times, served 2.5 months of a 1 year sentence at HMP Wandsworth (overturned by court of appeal).
Robin Boardman: Extinction Rebellion cofounder and languages student at University of Bristol.
Arrested 10 times, experienced state surveillance, devices confiscated, interviewed by MI5, underwent 14 day hunger strike.
Audley Parry Burnett MA Cantab LicAc MBAcS: Acupuncturist
Arrested twice and awaiting trial.
Kai Arne Springorum: Co-Founder Extinction Rebellion and Last Generation, Czech Republic,. iInitiator of Czech Climate litigation, Quaker, Hydrogeologist and Industrial Energy Efficiency Consultant.
Arrested over 50 times in UK, CZ, DE and AT, remanded 3 times, HMP Wandsworth, HMP Birmingham,and JVA Stadelheim in Munich for nonviolent civil resistance.
Mair Bain: Science communicator
Arrested 12 times for climate protest and remanded to prison for 6 weeks. On home detention ankle tag for 3 months. Awaiting crown court trials for 3 charges of public nuisance. Faced both criminal and civil proceedings for the same action. Ordered to pay thousands of pounds of injunction costs for being named on an injunction without breaking it.
Sam Griffiths: Designer
Arrested 10 times since October 2022, including an illegal arrest at the Coronation. Remanded to Wandsworth Prison for 21 days for slow marching. Has bail conditions preventing him from organising or participating in any Just Stop Oil protest within the M25, until Crown Court trial in 2025.
Richard Ramsden
Arrested 10 times with XR and IB, two Crown Court hearings, one Magistrates Court, injunction costs of £8K.
Roland Holland-Howes: Biology student at Bristol University
Arrested twice. Spent 5 days in custody including 3 days in HMP Pentonville after bail was granted. Bailed not to participate in any Just Stop Oil protest within M25 until trial in 2025.
Cathy Eastburn: London-based musician and mother.
Supporter of Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain, Just Stop Oil and Defend Our Juries. Arrested and held in police custody over 20 times, faced fines and civil injunction costs of thousands of pounds and sent to prison twice. Currently facing a Crown Court trial in 2024 for blocking a motorway slip road in October 2021 as part of the Insulate Britain campaign.
Louise Lancaster: Mother and teacher.
Arrested 22 times, previously held on remand and sentenced to prison. Has taken actions with Insulate Britain, Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil and Defend Our Juries. Has 14 weeks of suspended sentences and over £25,000 of costs and fines, largely from civil injunctions. Currently doing unpaid work to pay back ‘debt to society’.
Jeremy D Parker: Unemployed
Supporter of Extinction Rebellion, Palestine Action, HS2 Rebellion and Defend Our Juries. Arrested 9 times for supporting Extinction Rebellion and Palestine Action. Currently serving a 12 month suspended sentence,this year was fired from my job thanks to a conviction.
Bells Davidson
Arrested 15 times between 2019-to date for supporting Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain and Defend our Juries. Volunteer and low-paid worker for XRUK.
Edred Whittingham
Supporter of Just Stop Oil, arrested 9 times since April 2022, 2 guilty convictions, twice held in prison on remand.
Paul Bell: PhD student studying statistics of high impact climate events at the University of Exeter
Arrested 9 times since August 2021 with Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil. Spent 39 days on remand in prison and on a tagged curfew for 6 months, the total of which corresponds to a 9 month prison sentence. Has faced civil injunction proceedings.
Zoe Cohen: 53, year old Mum, coach and small business owner. SI am a supporter of XR, Insulate Britain, Just Stop Oil, and Defend Our Juries.
7 arrests, held on remand in prison, family home has been raided, subject to an injunction, and has a 7 month suspended sentence until 2025. Experienced significant impacts on work, business, and ability to earn.
James Skeet: 32, Sound engineer.
Arrested 13 times with Animal Rebellion/Rising, Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil. Remanded multiple times, imprisoned at Belmarsh and tagged. Subject to multiple house raids, thousands of pounds worth of property seized and never returned, illegally arrested, named on injunctions, bailed with conditions removing my right to protest, large costs and outstanding Crown Court trials.
Jane Touil: Registered blind and a carer. Gave up my job to focus on civil resistance.
Arrested 8 times with Just Stop Oil. Bail conditions state Jane must live and sleep at my home address each night and not enter London for slow marching with Just Stop Oil . Spent 4 days in prison due to a court admin error. Spent 6 weeks on electronic tag. 2 crown court and 1 magistrates’ court trials pending and also facing civil injunction proceedings.
Chiara Sarti: PhD student in computer science at University of Cambridge, supporter of Just Stop Oil.
Arrested 4 times since October 2023, remanded for 18 days without having any previous convictions. Sent to two men’s prisons, HMP Pentonville and HMP Wandsworth, despite being legally a woman. ail conditions prevent Chiara from organising or participating in any Just Stop Oil protest within the M25, until my Crown Court trial in 2025.
Gwen Harrison: Former Environmental Consultant
Arrested over 20 times and jailed twice for nonviolent action with XR, Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil. Being pursued for thousands of pounds in costs for being named on multiple civil injunctions, and paying thousands more in criminal court fines. Subjected to house raid and arrest at home. Facing potentially long prison sentence for ongoing conspiracy charge. Currently serving a suspended prison sentence until 2024 and doing 160 hours community service.
Allie Law
Arrested 4 times in the last year with Just Stop Oil. ecently spent 54 hours in custody for marching outside parliament for 10 minutes.
Nicholas Till: Professor at Universities of Sussex and Amsterdam. Supporter of XR, Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil
Arrested 6 times, prosecuted 4 times for Public Nuisance, three convictions, one six week prison sentence suspended for 18 months, £10k of fines and injunction costs, undertaken 280 hours “community payback” work.
Giovanna Lewis: Town Councillor, retired GP Surgery Manager
Arrested 11 times. Jailed for not accepting Judge’s ‘silencing’ in crown court. Awaiting re-trial in Crown Court after hung-jury outcome. Likely to have to pay thousands of pounds in injunction costs.
Lucia Whittaker
Arrested 15 times with Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil. Remanded to prison twice for a total of 7 weeks. Resisted inside prison with 7 other women. Breached multiple injunctions multiple times. Awaiting a Crown Court trial for Conspiracy to Commit a Public Nuisance. Currently on Crown Court bail which explicitly forbids Lucia from “organising or participating in climate change demonstrations”.
Venetia Carter: Tutor
Arrested nine times for peaceful protest with Extinction Rebellion and Insulate Britain. Served one week in prison and currently subject to a suspended sentence. Ordered to pay injunction costs despite not having broken the terms.
Amy Bennett: BSc Environmental Science student at the University of Birmingham.
Arrested twice under Section 7 of the Public Order Act, spent 36 hours in custody. Spent 5 days on house arrest whilst waiting to be GPS ankle tagged. Currently on Crown Court bail and banned from marching with Just Stop Oil in London in roads or pavements until a 2025 trial.
Rowan Tilly: B.Sc. Human Ecologist, Non-violence advisor, supporter of Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain, and Just Stop Oil
Arrested 30+ times, convictions, fines, two acquittals in the High Court which changed the law. Four life-long civil injunctions along with associated court costs. Several pending Crown Court trials.
Chris Ford: Nursery school teaching assistant, father to 2 sons.
Arrested 20+ times in 4 years, tried a dozen times (found guilty), imprisoned twice, tagged for 5 months, £3000+ in court costs and fines, unknown injunction costs and further court cases coming up.
Ruth Jarman: Charity worker, mother and co- founder of Christian Climate Action.
Arrested 30+ times, remanded once, fined £20 thousand so far with more pending.
David Nixon: Care Worker
Arrested 31 times for nonviolent civil resistance with Just Stop Oil, Insulate Britain, and Defend Our Juries. Has been to prison 4 times, one of which was for mentioning fuel poverty and climate change at a trial. Receivedover £10,000 of costs and fines so far, largely from civil injunctions. waiting 3 further trials, one of which is a crown court trial.
Andrew Worsley: Retired Probation Officer. Supporter of Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil.
Arrested 10 times or more, given £1,200 fine for an Injunction they had not broken. Fined over £2,000 and awaiting 2 Crown Court trials for Public Nuisance.
Janine Eagling: Former IT project manager, bicycle instructor.
Arrested 12 times and remanded to HMP Bronzefield. Forced to do unpaid work one day a week for the last 6 months and has paid thousands in court costs, fines and injunction costs. Two more major court cases in 2024.
Stefania Morosi: Yoga teacher and mother of two children. Arrested 14 times for taking action with Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil.
Convicted 5 times and remanded for a week in Bronzefield prison. Currently working through 280 hours of ‘community payback’, with two suspended custodial sentences of 14 weeks. Awaiting one further crown court trial.
Biff Whipster: Principal Business Analyst and father of two.
Arrested over 20 times, imprisoned in Pentonville for Contempt of Court. Three more trials pending, and £13,000 of fines due.
Ana Heyatawin: Grandmother, political analyst, community activist, and retired bus driver.
Arrested six times, three convictions for Obstructing the Highway, fines £1000, currently paying off further £1,500 injunction costs, awaiting retrial for Public Nuisance after hung jury first time round.
Judy Bruce: Retired science teacher, supporter of, Insulate Britain, Just Stop Oil, Defend Our Juries.
Arrested six times, three convictions for Obstructing the Highway, fines and costs about £1000, currently paying off further £1500 injunction costs, awaiting retrial for Public Nuisance afterhaving obtained a hung jury first time round.
Hannah Schafer: Sailing instructor, and unpaid carer.
Arrested seven times with Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil. ent to prison for 21 days for contempt of court
Paul Sheeky: Screenwriter and Consultant.
Arrested 28 times with Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain, Just Stop Oil and Demand Ceasefire Now. Remanded to prison for 11 days.
Emma Smart: Environmental Campaigner, former Ecologist and Environmental NGO Conservation Officer. Left job and spent entire savings to volunteer full-time in environmental activism. Supporter of XR Scientist, Extinction Rebellion, Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil.
Arrested 17 times over the last 4.5 years, served 2 months in prison (27 days on hunger strike in prison hospital wing). Held in custody for 4 days on charges of criminal damage, 48 hours on dry strike, later found not guilty. House raided and remanded to prison, assaulted in prison and kept in isolation without phone for 1 week – all charges later dropped. Costs and fines over £10,000. Under ongoing surveillance and investigation for conspiracy which could result in a lengthy prison sentence. Severe impacts on finances, ability to travel, employment opportunities and mental health. Emma receives regular online abuse and death threats.
Marguerite Doubleday
Arrested 9 times with StopHS2, Extinction Rebellion,Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil. Facing 2 Public Nuisance trials, one a retrial after a hung verdict. Received numerous fines and huge injunction charges.
Xavier Gonzalez – Trimmer: Climbing instructor, never 23.
Arrested 16 times for taking action with Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil. Spent three weeks in prison on remand. Xavier’s life ended in 2022 while awaiting five upcoming trials.
