A group of Black Lives Matter activists whose protest temporarily shut down a London airport Tuesday have been arrested and removed from the runway, police said.
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The group had erected a tripod and locked themselves together. Police say they were charged with “suspicion of aggravated trespass, being unlawfully airside and breaching the airport’s bylaw”.
According to Joshua Virasami, who was one of the demonstrators, BLM U.K. opted to stage the protest in order to highlight the dangers of environmental dangers that black people face in the region.
The protesters reportedly bypassed security by using a rubber dinghy to cross the docks. “In Britain, 28% of black people are more likely to be exposed to air pollution, being in closest proximity to the industries causing climate change”, he said.
Activists from Britain’s Black Lives Matter blocked the main road into London Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, last month as part of a nationwide day of protests against racism.
Casey Collins, who was scheduled to fly to Luxembourg, told the BBC customers first assumed the delays were related to British Airways technical glitches at Heathrow and Gatwick.
He said passengers were offered refunds for cancelled flights, while delayed passengers were also given refreshment vouchers.
Apart from the chaos at London City Airport, British Airways travelers suffered delays globally due to a computer glitch in the check-in systems, the latest in a string of technical failures to hit major worldwide airlines.
An airport spokesman said: “We are preparing the airfield to resume operations as soon as possible”.
Black Lives Matter UK said the centrally located airport was planning to expand its capacity, which would negatively affect the surrounding community in one of London’s most deprived areas. At the same time 40 per cent of Newham’s population struggle to survive on £20,000 or less.
“Black people are the first to die, not the first to fly, in this racist climate crisis”, the group said in a statement.
According to the London Daily Telegraph, the British government gave the go-ahead for London City Airport’s £344 million ($462-million) expansion back in July, “with the Government saying there will be “generous” compensation packages for local residents affected by the increase in air traffic”.
“We’ve been in line for three hours”, Erik Blangsted, told KGO-TV as he waited for his flight at San Francisco International Airport.
“We apologize for inconvenience caused this morning”, the airport posted on Twitter.
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The group also released a video explaining why they chose to focus on the environment for the protest.
