Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion, domestic terrorists?

peterwalkley · 15 Sep 2021 at 12:57

Chuk_Chuk said:
Sometime being a dick relies on other people being kind and accepting your behaviour. All it takes is one car to run someone over and the protesters would see sense and move themselves off the road.

I was thinking a warning that they have 5 minutes to leave then tear gas and water cannon. Police didn't used to have to pussyfoot around when people were dicks

Hades · 15 Sep 2021 at 13:00

peterwalkley said:
I was thinking a warning that they have 5 minutes to leave then tear gas and water cannon. Police didn't used to have to pussyfoot around when people were dicks

I completely support this approach. A fair warning. Then removal by necessary means.

fez · 15 Sep 2021 at 13:00

I agree with I think most people when I say that I agree with their message but I think they are a bunch of inconsiderate ***** who I have lost any and all respect for over this.

Pathetic behaviour that will do more harm than good.

Blackjack Davy · 15 Sep 2021 at 13:07

Diddums said:
Nothing says "we need to fight pollution" like forcing hundreds, if not thousands of cars to stand idling in a city centre for hours on end.

I support their cause, I just think that they undermine their entire MO with their frankly stupid approaches. No, i don't know what the correct approach is.

Cut them out of their clothes and toss them off the bridge?

(no I'm not being serious)

Uni's will be going back any day now that should give them something better to fill their time with like y'know, partying and catching Covid.

BowdonUK · 15 Sep 2021 at 13:10

The police standing around doing nothing is interesting.

They should be removing them. They are breaking the law.

explicit4u · 15 Sep 2021 at 13:29

BowdonUK said:
The police standing around doing nothing is interesting.

They should be removing them. They are breaking the law.

They're usually not doing nothing, they're waiting until they have the numbers to safely remove the protestors. If the protestors have erected structures or 'trapped' themselves somehow they'll have to wait for specialist teams/officers to remove them. Protest groups know this and use it to their advantage, their protests are designed to disrupt the police too.

XR and the like know they cannot be violently removed by the public or the police, if they are it's simply more police and court time and resources for them to take up.

phil675 · 15 Sep 2021 at 13:37

They're controlled opposition they can do whatever they like.

Energize · 15 Sep 2021 at 13:48

I would hardly call mere disruptive behaviour to be terrorism, there needs to be threatening/intimidating behaviour to the public in general.

Terminal_Boy · 15 Sep 2021 at 13:50

They need to make a credible threat of violence or use violence to aid their cause before they warrant being called terrorists.

dirtychinchilla · 15 Sep 2021 at 14:14

I'm very surprised no one ran them over in their haste to get to the airport.

These are in no way terrorists, though. Disruptive protestors with a point, yes. Dangerous? No way.

mmj_uk · 15 Sep 2021 at 14:15

You could call peaceful protestors terrorists going by the definition quoted as protests are action designed to influence government. Although the Extinction Rebellion mob probably do need de-radicalising from the perspective that they're hysterical about the world ending if they don't cause disruption but I'd just fine them as a deterrent, blocking motorways and airport runways and stuff is not on.

bayo000 · 15 Sep 2021 at 14:21

Keltyx said:
Road blocks stopping/delaying a fire engine or ambulance attending an emergency would

Did you think the Fire Brigade Union was a terrorist organisation back in 2002 when they went on strike?

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2002/nov/13/industrialaction.firefighters1

Zatoichi.uK · 15 Sep 2021 at 14:22

mmj_uk said:
You could call peaceful protestors terrorists going by the definition quoted as protests are action designed to influence government. They probably do need de-radicalising from the perspective that they're hysterical about the world ending if they don't cause disruption but I'd just fine them as a deterrent, blocking motorways and airport runways and stuff is not on.

Signing a petition to request a parliamentary debate would be terrorism under that definition. There is no universally agreed upon definition of terrorism but it usually involves a violent component and political change.

Keltyx · 15 Sep 2021 at 14:24

bayo000 said:
Did you think the Fire Brigade Union was a terrorist organisation back in 2002 when they went on strike?
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2002/nov/13/industrialaction.firefighters1

If you read that document there was army appliances and teams ready to step in which would have been arranged with the fire service, and the fire service was also willing to cross the picket line in emergencies.

bayo000 · 15 Sep 2021 at 14:33

Keltyx said:
If you read that document there was army appliances and teams ready to step in which would have been arranged with the fire service, and the fire service was also willing to cross the picket line in emergencies.

It still caused delays and disruptions.

adam cool dude · 15 Sep 2021 at 14:43

Zatoichi.uK said:
No because they are not using violence to achieve political aims. They are a bunch of **** heads though and many of their actions will have lost public support rather than gain it.

Violence doesn't have to be physical. If some poor boy died because they blocked a road and he couldn't get to hospital on time. Then that blood is on their hands.

Dis86 · 15 Sep 2021 at 14:44

Brilliant, we're now defining the passive resistance of the American civil rights movement as terrorism according to the definitions bandied about in here!

Energize · 15 Sep 2021 at 14:50

Dis86 said:
Brilliant, we're now defining the passive resistance of the American civil rights movement as terrorism according to the definitions bandied about in here!

Bin Laden had nothing on MLK.

Zatoichi.uK · 15 Sep 2021 at 15:14

adam cool dude said:
Violence doesn't have to be physical. If some poor boy died because they blocked a road and he couldn't get to hospital on time. Then that blood is on their hands.

Metaphorically perhaps but it still doesn't mean violence was committed.

nine_tails · 15 Sep 2021 at 15:20

Raymond Lin said:
Then they will take each individual on a case by case basis.

But my point is that you are cherry picking a link to bend to your agenda from the get-go, which puts your whole argument into the bin.

FWIW I don't like XR , but the thought of putting Taliban/ISIS and XR on under same roof is a bit silly. This is an overreaction and "end-of-free-speech" all over again. Trump would be proud if this were to pass through.