A12 Blockade: Police begin to transport XR demonstrators away in buses, hundreds arrested

Police began evacuating Extinction Rebellion protesters around 1:50 p.m. Hundreds of demonstrators who have been blocking the A12 since noon have now been arrested and taken away in buses by the transport company HTM. However, many Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists are still on the A12.

Vaders en moeders gaan mét hun kinderen de bussen met aangehouden personen in pic.twitter.com/fbpqAAjXd8

— MvGruijthuijsen (@GruijthuijsenMv) May 27, 2023

Some activists resisted a little and let themselves be carried into the bus. The mood, however, is convivial, there is still dancing and singing. Many protesters have banners or flags with them. Buses keep arriving to take the demonstrators to the police station. Shortly after 2 p.m., the fourth bus arrived. Some demonstrators have glued themselves to hoses which the police in turn have cut open.

Earlier, the police tried to spray the climate activists wet with water cannons to deter them. The Police also warned that protesters who did not comply with requests to leave would be arrested.