London Mayoral candidate Valerie Brown was among those arrested for smashing the windows of HSBC headquarters at Canary Wharf as part of an Extinction Rebellion protest this morning.
The Burning Pink candidate was one of nine women who were arrested and later charged on suspicion of criminal damage just after 7am this morning.
The women all wore patches bearing the words “better broken windows than broken promises”, referencing the Suffragette movement and acts of civil disobedience.
Brown said to HSBC management: “Investing in fossil fuels is murder. More and more people can see that clearly. Why can’t you?
“We will not stand by whilst you invest in runaway greed, whilst people’s lives are being shattered by the fossil fuel industries.”
The women used hammers and chisels decorated with the names of five members of the South African women’s climate justice group, the Pink Panthers – Silindile Mchunu, Francina Nkosi, Precious Mazibuko, Lerato Mogapi, Eunice Manzini – to carefully crack the glass.
The women, Brown included, then sat down and waited for the police to arrest them.
Extinction Rebellion cited a report by Rainforest Action Network, which claimed HSBC is Europe’s second-largest financier of fossil fuels after Barclays.
Brown, 68, moved to London from Ghana in the 1960s, and is one of a record-breaking 20 candidates running for London Mayor.
Her main policy is for a citizens’ assembly to replace the concept of a mayor, which would see a group of randomly selected people representing all demographics coming together to make decisions.
The London Mayoral elections take place on Thursday 6 May and you can follow all the build-up on SWLondoner.
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Valerie Brown — never heard of her till now, so a grand publicity stunt.