Extinction Rebellion protesters have disrupted Melbourne for the second time in a little over a week, blocking the Princes Bridge and causing major delays.
Extinction Rebellion blockading Princes Bridge in Melbourne. Ordinary people have come together to take peaceful direct action to address the Climate Emergency because our government won’t!#ExtinctionRebellion #TellTheTruth #ActNow #ClimateEmergency pic.twitter.com/hJ3zhiku2d
— Extinction Rebellion Australia (@XRebellionAus) September 14, 2019
The Extinction Rebellion protests made headlines last Friday after bringing major intersections to a halt across the CBD, but it doesn’t look like they’re slowing down because they flocked to the city again today for a second event.
Two groups of protesters blocked the bridge, causing a stop to traffic at both ends of the popular road and tram route, 9 News reports. More than 300 people attended today’s event.
Eight CBD tram routes were disrupted by the protest along Swanston St and St Kilda Rd. Flinders Street was also partially closed from the Market St intersection as a result of the disruptions.
The group planned to occupy the bridge and disrupt traffic for as long as possible before police intervened. According to Extinction Rebellion, 100 members of the group were willing to be arrested for the cause.
Police later moved in a forcibly removed protesters from the area at around 3pm. The protesters occupied the area for about three hours on Saturday afternoon.
“People made the decision before the protest they were willing to get arrested, that showed their level of commitment,” protester James Norman said.“It shows they are willing to take action to peacefully demand the government listens to the science.”
This is the second event in Melbourne organised by the Extinction Rebellion ahead of the major international “Spring Uprising” protests planned for October 7.
Although the protesters have been removed from the area, delays are expected to continue throughout the afternoon while services resume running in these areas. If possible, it’s probably a good idea to hop on a train instead of the trams.
It looks like we’re about to see a whole heap of protests across Australia and the rest of the world in the coming months, with groups like Extinction Rebellion prepared to go to extreme measures to make sure we all wake the fuck up about climate change.
Or, you know, we could just start giving a shit about the planet. That works too.
