British police arrest six people involved in plot to disrupt London Stock Exchange
Six people were detained Sunday as police investigated a plot to disrupt the London Stock Exchange, authorities said.
Police said arrests were made in Brighton, Liverpool and London.
British police said in a statement that activists from the Palestine Action Group were suspected of targeting the LSE on Monday, causing damage and attempting to ‘lock down’ the building to prevent it from being opened for trading.
An LSE official said they had no comment, but noted that trading does not take place on the London Stock Exchange itself. Stock trading is completely electronic and there has been no physical trading floor since 1986.
A representative of Palestine Action said in an email: “The London Stock Exchange trades shares in arms manufacturers that raise billions of pounds for apartheid Israel and support Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. “Our direct action campaign will not be deterred while Britain remains complicit in the brutal colonization of Palestine.”
Police said the arrests were made Sunday morning. The Metropolitan Police added that it was in contact with the City of London Police and other police forces in the UK after receiving suggestions that this was part of planned weekly action “to ensure that appropriate resources are in place to deal with any disruption”.
