'negotiating' with protesters who were finally removed from the runway after six hours


Black Lives Matter has insisted white people need 'to take responsibility' because they are 'privileged through racism' as it defended the all-white protest which brought London City Airport to a standstill today.

The group posted a series of inflammatory tweets this afternoon as it responded to criticism over a six-hour stunt which saw nine activists storm the runway after sailing up to the airport in a dinghy.

As photographs emerged of white men and women chained to a wooden tripod on the tarmac, alongside banners reading 'black lives matter', critics questioned why there were no black activists taking part in the protest.

But this afternoon, UK Black Lives Matter defended the protest, citing it as an example of 'white allyship under black leadership'.

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Flights in and out of London City Airport were disrupted this morning after a group of Black Lives Matter demonstrators marched onto the runway and lay down on the tarmac (they are pictured above)

Dozens of police officers were at the airport this morning in an attempt to move the protesters from the runway. Scotland Yard said it did not know how many officers were involved in the operation

Dramatic pictures from the operation show scores of officers and police vehicles surrounding the protesters on the runway, one of whom was sat perched atop the wooden tripod dressed in black. Officers approached him with a set of aircraft steps before giving him a helmet and a set of aircraft steps to help him down (pictured)

The group posted a series of inflammatory tweets this afternoon as it responded to criticism over a six-hour stunt, saying white people needed to 'take responsibility' because they are 'privileged through racisim'

Posting on Twitter, the group added that the protest is an example of 'white allyship under black leadership'

In a series of tweets, the group said: 'There's a need for white people to take responsibility in a society that privileges them through racism and anti-black racism in particular.

PROTEST WILL RAISE SERIOUS QUESTIONS ABOUT AIRPORT SECURITY Despite a tightening in airport security over the past few decades, today's protest at London City Airport shows how susceptible terminals can still be to serious breaches. While Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted are surrounded by land, London City Airport sits in the Royal Docks and is largely surrounded by water, potentially making it harder to defend. Security staff are only present when the airport is open but high-tech surveillance in in place at the airport to detect any unexpected movement in the surrounding area when it is closed. Some might suggest that today's incident shows the system is not as impenetrable as expected. Black Lives Matter UK spokesman Jacob Oti, 22, declined to go into detail about how the protesters gained access to the site, but confirmed it was via the Thames. It is now claimed the activists launched from the University of East London campus in the Docklands before making the 40m journey. Police and London City Airport have not confirmed if they are investigating these claims. Advertisement

'Today's shutdown isn't about 9 white allies on the runway; it's about 200 million climate refugees by 2050.'

Another tweet read: 'How many white people does it take to change the subject from black deaths? 9.'

One black anti-racism campaigner criticised the protest, saying it should be led by those who feel 'aggrieved'.

‘It’s a Black Lives Matter movement – the clue should be in the name,' he said. 'As with any cause, it should be led by the people who feel aggrieved, with other people as allies. Otherwise it’s just odd.'

Felix Holloway tweeted: 'Notice how all the Black Lives Matter protesters at London City Airport are white hipster-looking flower-crowners. Not a single black person in sight.'

One Twitter user wrote: 'All the protesters who had chained themselves together on the runway were white.'

But campaigner and journalist Wail Qasim, an activist with Black Lives Matter, said white people protesting had given black people a voice.

He told MailOnline: ‘This shows the sort of responsibility that white people should be taking. They should be willing to put bodies on the line for black rights.

‘You’ll notice that white activists have not been giving comment to the media. Really what’s happened is that black voices have been able to speak off the back of the actions of the white activists.

‘It should absolutely always be black leadership, not white leadership.’

The mayhem began at 5.40am when nine protesters chained themselves to a tripod in the middle of the tarmac to campaign against the UK's 'racist climate change', cancelling dozens of flights and delaying several more.

The incident triggered huge security concerns amid reports the demonstrators managed to get airside by sailing a blow-up dinghy across the Royal Docks.

Some have claimed the activists reached the site by launching the boat from the University of East London campus in the Docklands before paddling 40m to the airport. Neither the police nor the airport have confirmed whether they are investigating these claims, but a university spokesman said they could see 'no evidence' of UEL land being used from studying CCTV.

Despite the security alert, a Daily Mail journalist was still able to walk to within 20ft of the runway after the protest had ended, with just a narrow stretch of water blocking their path.

Officials tried to play down the threat by pointing out the site was closed when the breach took place, but said it will be ‘thoroughly investigated’.

Police spent several hours 'negotiating' with those responsible as they waited for 'specialist resources' to unlock them, causing chaos for passengers.

It was only after six hours that all the protesters were successfully removed from the site and taken into police custody.

It was only after six hours that all the protesters were moved from the site. It is suspected that the activists arrived at the airport by sailing across the Royal Docks

Dozens of police officers are at the scene of the chaos at the airport. Nine people have been arrested on suspicion of trespass

The Stop City Airport campaign group initially tweeted that the protest was a joint operation between Plane Stupid, a radical environmental group, and Black Lives Matter. But Plane Stupid later said that 'all credit' should go to Black Lives Matter.

According to the protest group, the demonstration is focusing on the airport's expansion plans, which they claim will favour the 'wealthy' passengers and ignore the local population of Newham, the borough in which the airport is based.

After arriving on the site, the group released a statement saying black people are '28 per cent more likely to suffer air pollution' and that the airport was allowing a 'wealthy elite' to fly around the world while migrants are drowning in the Mediterranean.

It said: 'Recently London City Airport was given approval to expand its capacity, a move that consigns the local community in Newham to further deterioration of their environment.

'The average salary of a London City Airport user is Euro 136,000 and 63 per cent of them work in business, finance or other business services. It is an airport designed for the wealthy.

'At the same time 40 per cent of Newham's population struggle to survive on £20k or less.'

It added : 'Our climate crisis is a racist crisis.'

According to the protest group, the demonstration is to highlight the 'environmental impact on the lives of black people locally and globally'. One of the protesters is pictured on the tripod

Flights are still being diverted to Southend in Essex and London Gatwick as the repercussions from this morning's protest continues. The protesters are pictured earlier this morning chained to the wooden tripod

Scotland Yard have been on site since the protest began, but a spokesman insisted the demonstrators could not be moved until specialist teams arrived

A police dinghy is pictured sailing past aircraft at the airport as the protest closed the runway and caused flights to be delayed

Police arrived at the airport minutes after the demonstration began, but it was several hours before any arrests were made. Scotland Yard had insisted they had to wait for specialist teams to arrive with bolt cutters before taking action.

After hours of trying to talk with the activists, officers moved in on the site at around 9.30am and made seven arrests.

However, only two of the protesters were unchained and it was another two hours before all nine were removed from the runway.

Dramatic pictures from the operation show scores of officers and police vehicles surrounding the protesters, one of whom was sat perched atop the wooden tripod dressed in black.

According to a witness, he was smoking cigarettes, taking pictures and joking with officers until his arrest.

He was eventually taken away from the site after officers gave him a helmet and wheeled him over a set of aircraft steps to help him down. The runway reopened just after midday, but delays continued throughout the day.

Michael Twomey, who was due to fly to Malaga from the airport this morning, told MailOnline that passengers were baffled as to how the situation took so long to resolve.

Among those supporting the action was Malia Bouattia, president of the National Union of Students, who tweeted her 'solidarity' with those taking part in the protest

A series of tweets sent from the Black Lives Matter official UK account said London City Airport was an airport 'for the wealthy', despite 40 per cent of residents in Newham - where the airport is based - living on £20,000 or less

Speaking from the airport, he said: 'I am sitting at City airport delayed with hundreds of other people. We are all asking the same questions, how can it take this long to remove a few people?

'Why are we giving these ridiculous group of individuals the exposure they clearly desire? '

The Metropolitan Police are investigating how the protesters managed to get airside.

Witnesses at the airport described how the protesters got onto the runway using a rubber dinghy or by swimming across the water.

Black Lives Matter UK spokesman Jacob Oti, 22, declined to go into detail about how the protesters gained access to the site, but confirmed it was via the Thames.

Joshua Virasami, another of the group's ringleaders, told the BBC the disruption to flights was 'a very small inconvenience' compared to the 'consequences for black communities daily'.

When asked how the protesters gained access, Mr Virasami said: 'I'm not in a situation to say... but one can use their imagination'.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said officers would investigate what happened.

In a statement, they said: 'Nine people erected a tripod and have locked themselves together on the runway.Officers negotiated with the protesters and specialist officers arrived to "unlock" the protesters.

Those at the airport said that most of the protesters appeared to be 'white and middle class'

DANNY DYER AMONG THOSE STRANDED AT LONDON CITY AIRPORT BY PROTEST Danny Dyer was among those stranded at London City Airport today as he made his way to his honeymoon. The Eastenders actor married his long-term girlfriend Jo Mas on Saturday at the luxury Chewton Glen Hotel near the New Forest. Today, he was at the airport to fly to his honeymoon, but had his flight delayed due to the protesters. He tweeted a photo of him with a airport worker and wrote: 'Thank u Liam and @Londoncityair 4 looking after me and my wife while there was murders on the runway.' He later tweeted 'Italiano' suggesting he had perhaps arrived at his destination. The wedding took place on Saturday and Danny's friends Kasabian provided the music for the guests. Many of those who have worked with him on Eastenders were also at the bash. Advertisement

'At approximately 09:30hrs officers started to arrest the protesters. Nine people have been arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass, being unlawfully airside and breaching London City Airport bylaws.

'All have now been removed from the runway and taken into police custody.'

A London City Airport spokesman said there was a now a 'thorough investigation' into the circumstances of the incident but did not say how they suspected the activists had arrived on the site.

Black Lives Matter, whose international movement was set up following the murder of black teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida four years ago, has carried out several demonstrations over the past few months.

The group brought the M4 - and other roads around the country - to a standstill in August in a co-ordinated day of action aimed to target those going on holiday and getting to work.

During that day of action - which coincided with the fifth anniversary of Mark Duggan being shot dead by police in Tottenham, North London - protesters lay down in the middle of the road near Heathrow and brought trams to a halt in Manchester.

Activists also chained themselves together to block the route to Birmingham airports, while in the centre of Nottingham, four protesters lay across tram tracks.

A Waitrose lorry was also caught up in the drama on Whitechapel High Street, east London, with police called in to guard it as officers allowed the march to continue.

Passengers vented their frustration as they awaited for news over the protest, with flights in and out of the airport affected

Passengers are pictured queuing at London City this morning after the Black Lives Matter protest caused delays and cancellations to flights in and out of the airport

A group of passengers were seen sitting outside the airport this morning as they waited for news of their flights

This picture shows long queues and confused passengers at the airport terminal as police spent several hours removing protesters from the runway

The departure board at the airport shows the chaos caused by the protest with several flights from the airport cancelled

'OUR CLIMATE CRISIS IS RACIST CRISIS' : FULL STATEMENT FROM BLACK LIVES MATTER This morning activists in support of Black Lives Matter UK shutdown London City Airport in the London Borough of Newham. This action was taken in order to highlight the UK's environmental impact on the lives of black people locally and globally. As the largest per capita contributor to global temperature change and yet among the least vulnerable to its deadly effects, the UK leads in ensuring that our climate crisis is a racist crisis. Recently London City Airport was given approval to expand its capacity, a move that consigns the local community in Newham to further deterioration of their environment. The average salary of a London City Airport user is €136,000 and 63% of them work in business, finance or other business services. It is an airport designed for the wealthy. At the same time 40% of Newham’s population struggle to survive on £20k or less. When black people in Britain are 28% more likely to be exposed to air pollution than their white counterparts, we know that environmental inequality is a racist crisis. The UK's impact on the environment is global. 7 out of 10 of the countries most affected by climate change are in sub-Saharan Africa. By 2020 there will be 200 million climate refugees globally. Whilst at London City Airport a small elite is able to fly, in 2016 alone 3,176 migrants are known to have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean, fleeing conditions that they did not create because cheaper, easier and most importantly safer avenues have been blocked by the UK and other European countries. Black people are the first to die, not the first to fly, in this racist climate crisis. Advertisement

Today, passengers vented their frustration at the disruption caused by the protest.

Departure information screens at City airport showed a significant number of cancellations, while airline staff handed out water, chocolates and vouchers to aggrieved passengers.

Among flights cancelled were those to Geneva, Milan, Luxembourg, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Zurich, Florence, Mallorca and Malaga.

Pam and Lee Menzies-Banton, a black couple from Bow, east London, who were due to fly for a ten night stay in Palma - the only holiday they would be taking this year - said protesters should have targeted Westminster instead.

They said 'two black lives are missing a day of their holiday' after the protest.

Joshua Virasami (pictured), a group ringleader, told the BBC he could not expand on how protesters accessed the site, but he added: 'One can use their imagination'

Ms Menzies-Banton, 57, who works for a drug and alcohol treatment company, said: 'I don't have a problem with the protestors being white. I'm glad white people are willing to fight for those issues. It's just an odd way of going about it.'

Mr Menzies-Banton, 53, a civil servant, said 'They could have gone a different way about it, maybe protesting outside Downing Street. Or they could have gone to a more major airport if it is about the environment.

'It's an inconvenience to us and many others, regardless of their race. These two black lives are missing a day of their holiday. We are not angry, it's just an inconvenience.'

He also stressed it was not just high flying bankers who used the airport, as Black Lives Matter appeared to suggest in their statement.

He said: 'It's not just people who work in the city, it's people who live nearby, working class people, like us.'

Passenger Casey Collins said customers were unaware of the protest until after 8am, and assumed the delays were related to IT glitches at Heathrow and Gatwick.

The freelance management consultant from Devizes in Wiltshire was supposed to be on a 7.35am flight to Luxembourg.

He said: 'The board was saying all BA flights were on hold, and that there would be updates at 8am, so we thought it was a continuation of the problems at Heathrow and Gatwick with BA.

'We then realised that things were more serious because all flights were being affected.'

Fellow passenger Chanel de Kock said she was stuck for three-and-a-half hours upon arrival in London.

She said: 'I wish the airport would tighten their security as it's a bit worrying that people can access the runway so easily in the current state of our times, and also that the airport will be better at giving information to people at the airport.

'It was absolute chaos and really badly handled by what I thought was my favourite airport.'

Luca Guala tweeted: 'What a way to start holidays: Stuck at #Milan #Linate airport unable to reach @LondonCityAir due to closure.'

Simon Cartlidge said: 'Stuck at City Airport due to protesters on the runway. Flights delayed - nightmare.'

But the protest was backed by numerous people, including the Green Party, who said the activists were 'right to highlight the unequal way pollution affects BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) communities'.

Among those supporting the action was Malia Bouattia, president of the National Union of Students, who tweeted her 'solidarity' with those taking part in the protest.

An airport spokesman said: 'We would like to congratulate the Metropolitan Police for their safe and professional handling of the protestors this morning at London City Airport. While we were pleased to resolve the matter safely, we apologise to all passengers affected by the resulting disruption to flights. It is extremely regrettable that a small number of people feel it is appropriate to protest in such a dangerous manner.

'A thorough investigation is now underway into the circumstances of the incident and we will take any actions identified as necessary as a result.'

Following last month's Black Lives Matter protest - which saw co-ordinated protests around the country - four people are due in court today court charged with wilful obstruction of the highway in Nottingham.

The group is also calling for further protests on Tuesday over a deportation flight to Jamaica later this month.

Its statement said: 'We note that the UK is willing to charter special flights to remove black people from the country based on their immigration status. We call on our supporters to join the demonstration against this, today at the Jamaica high commission.'

Today's incident comes as British Airways passengers around the world face lengthy delays today after an IT glitch caused its check-in systems to malfunction.

Do you know the people involved in the protest or have you been affected by the demonstration? Email steph.cockroft@mailonline.co.uk

THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY STUDENT AND 'TRAVEL BLOGGER' WHO ARE KEY PLAYERS IN BLACK LIVES MATTER GROUP WHICH CAUSED CHAOS AT LONDON CITY AIRPORT By Jake Wallis-Simons for MailOnline The British branch of Black Lives Matter is led by a loose group of sixth formers, students and far-Left activists. These include an 18-year-old model and travel blogger, an Oxford University student, a ‘queer, non-binary Muslim’ journalist, and an Occupy London protester who was arrested in 2011 for allegedly assaulting a police officer. The group hit the headlines yesterday when nine white activists stormed London City Airport, causing disruption to thousands of passengers before being eventually arrested. One of the key figures in the movement, Capres Willow, 18, an A-Level student and travel writer who uploads pictures of her trips on Instagram, organised a 3,000-person demonstration on Oxford Street despite never having attended a protest before. A major driving force behind the group has been student Capres Willow (left), a travel writer from Waltham Abbey, Essex, who organised a major protest involving 3,000 people on Oxford Street through the capital. The public face of the group is Adam Elliott-Cooper (right), a postgraduate geography student at Oxford University Speaking at a protest, Willow, from Waltham Abbey in Essex, said: 'I was wondering, why hasn't London stood up and shown that they give a s***, basically? I understand we're disrupting people's lives but... that's life, isn't it?' Another sixth former, Maryam Ali, a founder of the Black Lives Matter chapter in London, acknowledged she had never experienced police violence first-hand but was organising demonstrations out of ‘solidarity with the US’. ‘The UK isn't innocent. There have been police killings here,’ she told the BBC. British police have shot two people this year, one of whom was black. During the same period, 512 people were killed by police in the United States. However, there have been a number of black people whose deaths have been connected to allegedly being in police custody, and the activists see this as one of their main causes. ‘We are in a crisis about the brutality being inflicted on black people,’ Natasha Nkonde, a UK Black Lives Matter activist, told the Guardian. In an online profile, Nkonde wrote, ‘all struggles are connected under the systems of oppression,’ which are described as ‘imperialist white-supremacist capitalist patriarchy.’ The public face of the group is Adam Elliott-Cooper, a postgraduate geography student at Oxford. He is studying the organisation as part of his course, and is working on research called 'the Struggle that has No Name' about 'black-led organising functions' and 'racialised spaces in the city’. In a column about the shooting of Mark Duggan, he wrote, ‘the manipulation of the justice system operating in conjunction with a far-reaching propaganda machine... protects state violence from being held accountable today.’ Joshua Virasami, who was arrested at the Occupy London camp in St Pauls in 2011, is another prominent activist. As a teenager, he was ‘in and out detention, suspension and behavioural monitoring programs', and has been part of a number of protest movements, including demonstrations against the expansion of Heathrow. Virasami courted controversy on Twitter when he said the massacre of five police officers in Dallas who were patrolling at a Black Lives Matter protest was a case of 'chickens coming home to roost’. Aadam Muuse, the NUS’ Black Students’ Officer and another Black Lives Matter campaigner, was pictured being cut out of concrete cuffs that he had used to tie himself across the motorway leading to Heathrow last month. Writing a few days after the protest, he claimed: ‘Until this country redresses its long, long history of injustices against black people globally, we are not free.’ The group also attracts the support of other grassroots activists. Amina Gichinga, a 26-year-old singing teacher from Newham, London, is a leader in a campaign group called Take Back The City. The group, which is modelled on the Spanish Socialists, aims to put marginalised people ‘back in the driving seat of decision-making in London’. Gichinga, who is of mixed Kenyan-Singaporean heritage, has claimed that Goldsmith’s College, where she studied International Relations, is ‘incredibly mono-cultural and elitist’, and said she was ‘the only person in my GCSE English class who wasn’t cheering when we found out that we’d won the Olympic bid in 2005.’ In May, Gichinga ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Greater London Assembly. Yesterday, she tweeted her support a number of times for Black Lives Matter’s London Airport protest. In recent months, Black Lives Matter has spearheaded a number of demonstrations in Britain which have thrust it into the media spotlight. Activists brought the M4, and other roads around the country, to a halt in August in a co-ordinated day of action when protesters lay down in the middle of the road near Heathrow. Following a separate Black Lives Matter protest in Nottingham last month, four people are due in court today court charged with wilful obstruction of the highway. The group also organised events to mark the fifth anniversary of the shooting of Mark Duggan, who was killed by police in Tottenham, north London. In July, the group hit the headlines when a water fight in London’s Hyde Park spiralled out of control. Three people were stabbed as members of a crowd chanted 'Black Lives Matter'. But police said at the time that the violence was not related to the Black Lives Matter protests, and was instead about people ‘committing violent acts of disorder’. Earlier this year, the protesters caused London’s Oxford Street to come to a halt as they demanded justice for the killing of two black men by white US police officers. Demonstrators holding banners saying ‘black lives matter’ and ‘no justice no peace’ marched on the American Embassy in Mayfair in July, chanting ‘hands up don’t shoot’, in reference to the killings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling in the United States. That London rally came after two similar marches in previous days that halted traffic for four hours in Brixton and outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster. Founded in the United States in 2012 after the murder of black teenager Trayvon Martin, the group has held mass rallies all over America to protest against the appalling shooting of unarmed black men by white police officers. Other campaigners welcomed the white protesters’ actions, arguing that they ‘gave rightful space to black voices’ and that the white supporters were ‘working under the leadership of black activists’. ‘This shows the sort of responsibility that white people should be taking. They should be willing to put bodies on the line for black rights,’ Wail Qasim, a journalist and prominent Black Lives Matter activist, told MailOnline. ‘You’ll notice that white activists have not been giving comment to the media. Really what’s happened is that black voices have been able to speak off the back of the actions of the white activists. ‘It should absolutely always be black leadership, not white leadership.’ Advertisement

How Black Lives Matter has gathered momentum in Britain after spreading across the Atlantic from the US

Black Lives Matter dates back three years but has only gained momentum in Britain in the past few months after several high-profile protests on the streets of London.

The motto was founded in the US in 2013, but ignited when Michael Brown, 18, was fatally shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

That incident on August 9, 2014 was followed by other high-profile killings of black men and boys by police in other American cities including Baltimore and Cleveland.

The various shootings sparked racial tensions and weeks of protests in the US and beyond that evolved into a global debate about alleged disparities in policing.

The motto is believed to have been coined in 2013 when California-based activist Alicia Garza said on Facebook: ‘Black people. I love you. I love us. Our lives matter.’

She was angry that neighbourhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman had been cleared of murdering black teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida in February 2012.

Since then the Black Lives Matter protests have spread to Britain in solidarity with US police shootings and to highlight stop and searches in the UK and custody deaths.

Earlier this year, the protesters caused London’s Oxford Street to come to a standstill as they demanded justice for the killing of two black men by white US police officers.

Demonstrators holding banners saying ‘black lives matter’ and ‘no justice no peace’ marched on July 10 and stopped outside the American Embassy in Mayfair.

There, they chanted ‘hands up don’t shoot’ in reference to the killings of Philando Castile in Minnesota on July 6 and Alton Sterling in Louisiana a day before that.

That London rally came after two similar marches in previous days that halted traffic for four hours in Brixton and outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster.

And on July 19 a water fight in London’s Hyde Park spiralled out of control and led to three people being stabbed as members of a crowd chanted 'Black Lives Matter'.

But police said at the time that the violence was not related to the Black Lives Matter protests and was instead about people ‘committing violent acts of disorder’.

The British side of the movement, known as UK Black Lives Matter (UKBLM), describes itself as a network of anti-racist activists from across the country.

Maryam Ali, a founder of the Black Lives Matter chapter in London, is an 18-year-old sixth form student from West London who has never experienced police violence.

But speaking about her involvement to BBC News last month, she said: ‘Part of it is solidarity with the US. I have family in America, and I fear for their lives.

‘They could just been walking down the street and their lives could be taken away. But the UK isn't innocent. There have been police killings here.’

And referring to the movement’s marches, she told The Voice last month, she said: ‘I think people forget that racism is a worldwide thing. It’s still very prevalent.