| In the early hours of Thursday 8 August, police stopped a convoy of vehicles carrying tents, compost toilets, wheelchair access ramps, and camping equipment that was headed to the planned Reclaim the Power camp near Drax power station. Everyone in the vehicles was arrested.
This was the start of “Operation Infusion”, one of the biggest protest operations coordinated by North Yorkshire Police in a decade. By the end of Thursday, almost 25 people had been arrested for their alleged involvement with the climate camp.
The arrestees were detained for nearly 36 hours after police applied for special permission to hold them beyond the 24-hour limit while they completed raids on people’s homes. They were charged with offences brought in through the new anti-protest laws: conspiracy to interfere with key public infrastructure, and conspiracy to go equipped to lock on.
Netpol has documented the growing use of conspiracy charges to shut down protests before they start. We spoke to arrestees from Reclaim the Power to get an insight into the huge policing operation against them, and their testimony reveals the paranoia and surveillance the climate movement is subjected to.
You can read our full report, with interviews from the arrestees, on the Netpol blog. Reclaim the Power is raising funds to cover some of the costs arising from this action, and you can donate to the crowdfunder here. |
The New Dark Age 
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