Ninety-one-year-old Quaker in XR arrest
Ninety-one-year-old Friend among those arrested at an XR protest
Friends are upholding a ninety-one-year-old Quaker who was arrested and charged during the Extinction Rebellion (XR) blockade at Dover Docks last month.
John Lynes, of Hastings Meeting, was among ten activists who were arrested during the demonstration ‘No Food on a Dying Planet’ on 21 September demanding urgent action to avert climate breakdown.
The arrest was shown on Channel 4 News, just after he told the presenter: ‘It’s great the young people are protesting but it’s my generation that has caused all the trouble, so here I am.’
Sally Phillips, from Hastings Meeting, told the Friend that the Meeting was upholding John Lynes, who was ‘in very good spirits’ and ‘had not been kept in the police cell very long as he was back at Meeting the next day’. She said he told the Meeting the week before that he would probably be arrested at the XR protest and the Meeting fully supported him. ‘He’s actually the third member of the Meeting to be arrested.’
John Lynes is among eight of the activists who have been charged with failing to comply with a condition imposed by a senior police officer, in accordance with Section 14 of the Public Order Act 1986. They are all bailed to appear before Folkestone Magistrates’ Court on 23 October.
The activists occupied two lanes of the A20 in order to cause delays to highlight the potential for food shortages as climate change develops. Critics complained that the action wasted police time and caused huge traffic jams, which generated more pollution.
Huddersfield Quakers tweeted that they were also upholding the Quaker great-grandfather.
John Lynes was also photographed by newspaper website Kent Online before his arrest sitting down and sipping tea with a sign saying: ‘Sorry, No Food.’
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