London police on Saturday detained 86 people on charges of breaching prison grounds after a crowd gathered outside Wormwood Scrubs jail in support of a Palestine Action member on hunger strike, the force said.
The protesters “refused to leave the grounds when ordered to do so,” the Metropolitan police said on Saturday night. The group allegedly blocked prison staff from entering and leaving, threatened police officers at the scene, and some gained access to a staff entrance area of the facility.
“All those involved are currently detained and will be arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass,” the police statement added.
A police spokesperson told the Daily Mirror on Sunday that the suspects had gathered outside the west London jail in support of Umer Khalid, a Palestine Action member who stopped drinking water two days ago.
Khalid is part of a group suspected of break-ins and criminal damage carried out on behalf of Palestine Action, but has denied the charges.
Khalid, 22, who has been held on remand since July, first stopped eating in November together with seven others, but briefly paused his hunger strike around Christmas after becoming ill, the U.K. daily reported.
He is the final Palestine Action member on hunger strike, after three others ended their participation 10 days ago over the government’s decision not to award a £2 billion contract to an Israeli arms firm.
The U.K. government outlawed Palestine Action on July 2 after its followers vandalized aircraft at a Royal Air Force base on June 20.
British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper had sought the proscription under section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2000. The measure, passed by a significant majority in the House of Commons (385 to 26), makes it a crime to belong to or support Palestine Action, placing it on the same legal footing in the U.K. as groups such as Al-Qaeda and Islamic State.
The House of Lords also backed Cooper’s initiative, and the Court of Appeal in London subsequently rejected an appeal to block the ban.
Late last month, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was arrested in London after holding up a placard in support of Palestine Action during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in the capital city.
A City of London police spokesperson confirmed to JNS that a 22-year-old female suspect had been arrested “for displaying an item (in this case a placard) in support of a proscribed organisation (in this case Palestine Action) contrary to Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000.”
Two other individuals were arrested earlier for throwing red paint on a building, police said.
