LONDON — Climate activist Greta Thunberg was arrested in London on Tuesday for holding a sign supporting pro-Palestinian campaigners on hunger strike in British prisons.
In a video shared by the Prisoners for Palestine protest group, Thunberg, 22, can be seen holding a sign reading “I support the Palestine Action prisoners. I oppose genocide.”
Palestine Action, a United Kingdom-based direct action protest group, was classified as a terrorist organization by the British government in July, after causing millions of dollars worth of damage to defense firms.
Since the ban, hundreds of people have been arrested nationwide for taking part in protests against that ban, which has since been challenged at the High Court in London.
In a video shared by Prisoners for Palestine, the group said it targeted the central London offices of Aspen Insurance because it provides services to the Israeli-linked defense firm Elbit Systems.
Two activists sprayed red paint over the front of the building before police arrived and made arrests.
Asked about Thunberg’s arrest by NBC News, the City of London Police said in a statement that “hammers and red paint were used to damage a building on Fenchurch Street.”
“A man and a woman have been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage. They glued themselves nearby and specialist officers are working to release them, and bring them into police custody,” it added.
“A little while later, a 22-year-old woman also attended the scene. She has been arrested for displaying an item (in this case a placard) in support of a proscribed organization (in this case Palestine Action) contrary to Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000.”
British police never release the names of those arrested. It is only once people have been charged that their names are made public.
Last year, Thunberg was cleared of a public order offense in Britain as a judge ruled police had no power to arrest her and others at a protest in London the year before.
But Thunberg has been vocal in her support for the people of the Gaza Strip and has been detained by Israeli authorities while sailing on boats trying to deliver a symbolic shipments of aid to the Palestinian enclave by sea.
Gaza has been under an Israeli naval blockade since 2007, when Hamas took power.
Thunberg said the missions were essential amid global silence on Israel’s military action in Gaza, much of which was reduced to rubble during two years of war between Israel and Hamas.
Israeli forces have killed more than 70,000 Palestinians since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led terror attack on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and about 250 were taken hostage.
