Who am I?

My name is Heather, you may have seen me on the front page of the BBC website being ungracefully carried off Waterloo bridge, or locked to the bottom of the van, surrounded by police with only a pot to pee in. I'm referring  to my involvement in the Extinction Rebellion disruption in April.

Why I took action?

We are facing a climate emergency and we must take action to reduce our carbon emissions right now. The UN Secretary General has stated that humanity and life on Earth faces a direct existential threat. Lives of the poorest and most vulnerable in the world are already being lost.

In such an emergency, someone must be able to raise the alarm, loudly enough that everyone can hear it, and to not expect a penalty for doing so. If I ran a red light to take someone to hospital in an emergency that would be allowed by law because my action was a necessary and proportionate response to the threat to life. We need urgent action from political leaders now to prevent climate breakdown and so I, and others, have raised the alarm by creating a few days of disruption in the centre of London. It is for raising this alarm, that I am now facing prosecution.

I've never done anything I could have been arrested for before. But when I saw the commitment others were making and the impact it was having, I realised that I had a responsibility to be part of it. So, I packed a bag with 5 pairs of pants and a sleeping bag, booked a day off work and got on the train

My case

I did not go with the intention of being arrested – I'm concerned about the impact on my work. But once I was involved, I realised that this peaceful protest needed a few people who were prepared to protect the space. When the call went up, once, twice, three times to take up a position locked onto the van preventing the entire protest being dispersed I, with some trepidation stepped forward.

I have been charged with a minor public order offence and I'm facing a trial, legal fees, a fine, and a possible criminal record.

I don't expect anyone to get me out of this, and I have accepted what this charge may mean for my future employment. But if you support what I did, for the reasons I did it, and you can help, please consider donating to help me and others who were arrested for breaking the glass when the house is on fire 

Following this action Parliament declared a climate emergency, and Government is starting to make some of the right noises, but there is much more to do. 

We all need to make it clear that this is a priority for the British public. 

We need to tell them this now. 

I hope to raise £2000, any money I don't need for my own costs I will use to help the following other XR arrestees. 

Benjamin Warner: 

"We are in an emergency. On the 1st May 2019 parliament finally acquiesced to XR’s demands and declared a climate change emergency. This is an emergency. Extinction rebellion had told the government to declare an emergency in October 2018 . It’s an emergency. I was taught about climate change, by the state, in primary school. That was about 30 years ago. It’s still an emergency. Since then I’ve signed petitions, asked MPs and other politicians to act, attended numerous state sanctioned legal demonstrations, written letters and emails to politicians asking for action, legally and peacefully occupied buildings and in April I sat in the road. It’s an emergency. Parliament declared it. We need to start acting like it. Scientists have been saying it for years. Most of all the dead and the dying scream it. Yet, this court still insists on wasting its time and the time of all these learned gentlemen and ladies on this ridiculous and pointless prosecution. If the court finds me guilty it will only prove that the British justice system is no longer fit for purpose and needs to be replaced. If I am found not guilty, the court will have shown that it has a modicum of sense and may well discourage a full scale rebellion. "

Henry Parker: 

I got arrested because I had truthfully exhausted all other means of getting my voice heard on climate justice issues. I have worked as a frontline volunteer for 2 years with displaced people amongst whom many are climate refugees and realised how effective mass civil disobedience can be to get our voices heard, create dialogue and affect policy changes.

Sian Bridget Nansi Cox

"Reasons for my actions: I put myself forward to be arrested - and have again since, and will again - driven by the desperate grief for the terrible suffering being experienced by hundreds of thousands of human beings and other animals on Earth now, and the even more terrible suffering that will be experienced by millions, billions, more, as climate and ecological breakdown play out;  and because the chill realization that our governments, our leaders, those entrusted with the safeguarding of citizens and the custodianship of the natural world have failed and will continue to fail, willfully, knowingly, has set in me; and because years of using democratic processes to try to effect change have failed; and because the only measure with any chance of effecting the drastic change needed, in the tiny window of opportunity available, is mass participation civil disobedience; and because I believe that XR is our last, our best, our only shot."