An activist dressed as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson free-climbed the scaffolding of Big Ben in London on Friday to draw attention to climate change.
The Independent reported that the man is tree surgeon Ben Atkinson, who’s a member of the Extinction Rebellion, an environmental group.
A protester climbing up the scaffolding around Big Ben! #BrexitCrisis @BBCNews @MailOnline @SkyNews pic.twitter.com/huexS3g4jo
— Callum Tucker (@CallumTucker) October 18, 2019
Once he reach the top of the scaffolding, Atkinson reportedly unfurled two flags. One read “Citizens Assembly,” while the other one had the Extinction Rebellion logo emblazoned over the colors of the LGBTQ flag and read “No Pride on a dead planet.”
.@BorisJohnson, please answer your phone ☎️.
Ben Atkinson would like to have a chat with you.
This is a climate & ecological emergency.
They would like to know what your plan is.@RainbowRebels #InternationalRebellion#NoPrideInEcocide
Big Benhttps://t.co/kkcJyXn9GW
— Extinction Rebellion ⌛️ (@ExtinctionR) October 18, 2019
After evading police for three hours, the protester was arrested and accused of trespassing on a protected site.
The group said the reason for Atkinson’s free climb was ”to highlight government inaction on the climate and ecological emergency.”
Atkinson also took to Facebook while he was on top of the scaffolding.
“Gone and done it… Extinction Rebellion. Here to stay,” he posted.
Atkinson continued: “We got the declaration of climate emergency last time. Now perhaps, please Boris [Johnson], you’re struggling to navigate Brexit let alone work our way out of the sixth mass extinction event.”
Extinction Rebellion has been staging climate protests all over London since Oct. 7, according to the Independent.
