A builder who attempted to forcibly remove Just Stop Oil protesters from blocking traffic in London on Tuesday morning was detained and handcuffed by police overseeing the disruption.
The incident occurred on London’s Blackfriars Bridge shortly before 8:30 a.m., with footage circulating on social media showing several far-left activists blocking the road and holding banners.
As commuters sounded their horns and edged their vehicles forward in frustration, one worker took matters into his own hands, exiting his vehicle and attempting to drag a protester to the sidewalk in order to clear the road.
The footage shows at least three police officers on the scene overseeing the protest but doing little to remove the disruption from the road.
Upon seeing the vigilantism, two police officers swiftly stepped in to detain the commuter and place him in handcuffs as the protesters returned to their position in the middle of the road.
As officers manhandled the builder and restrained him, the Just Stop Oil activists could be heard shouting, “Disgusting!”
“Give the guy a break, he’s trying to get to work!” replied one individual.
One onlooker, as cited by LBC, said: “A builder trying to get to work attempts to physically move Just Stop Oil protestors. The police only move in when he gets physical, if they had removed the selfish protesters then these predictable, physical altercations wouldn’t happen.”
A statement by the Metropolitan Police read: “At around 08.25hrs, officers detained a male member of the public for common assault after an altercation between him and two Just Stop Oil protesters on Blackfriars Bridge this morning. There have been no arrests.”
The Just Stop Oil campaign, more concerned with just stopping traffic in recent times, commented: “This is an impossible situation. Do we disrupt other ordinary people, like this man, arrested for lashing out today, or just sit back and watch everything burn?
“That’s where our government has left us. More and more people are realizing taking action is the right thing to do.”
