Police Search Street Theatre Activists Under New Power
August 21, 2010
A group of street theatre activists planning on demonstrating against RBS later today have been stopped and searched by Lothian and Borders Police under Section 60.
A team of 30-40 people gathered at the Royal Bank of Scotland HQ in Gogarburn, Edinburgh this morning. Dressed in white forensics biohazard suits and carrying “greenwash detector” probes they enacted street theatre to poke fun at RBS’ attempts to spin their image away from their status as the oil and gas bank.
The protesters were searched under a section 60 power which has been in place on Edinburgh and surrounding area since 10.30 am on Saturday morning and will remain so for 48 hours. The group were stopped and searched for offensive weapons just outside the Climate Camp at Gogarburn. Forward Intelligence Teams took photographs of the protestors. All refused to give their details and there were no arrests.
This move accompanies the installation of floodlights on the roof of RBS HQ, and the introduction of mounted police in the area surrounding the camp.
The protestors from Camp for Climate Action plan on heading into the Royal Mile at 3pm for more greenwash busting.
Charlotte Wirth, one of the protestors who was stopped and searched, said:
“Street theatre is a great way to highlight how what RBS says about its environmental record doesn’t match up with the reality. RBS is financing billions of pounds worth of coal, oil and gas both across the world and here in the UK.
“It’s ridiculous that the police are using stop and search powers across Edinburgh on street performers just because our message is political.”