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Police Arrest Activists for Plotting to Fly Drones at Heathrow Airport

Police in London preemptively arrested five activists on September 12 over plans to fly drones at Heathrow Airport as part of a climate change protest.

This footage, released by the activists’ Heathrow Pause campaign, shows their intended drone pilot Roger Hallam arrested outside a cafe in Bethnal Green where he had been interviewed by German news magazine Der Spiegel.

Hallam, who co-founded the environmental group Extinction Rebellion, told Der Spiegel that their plan was to bring to the airport several drones that would only fly at head height and would not endanger the flight operations.

Heathrow Pause livestreamed a video in the early hours of September 13 in which they appear to attempt to launch a drone near Heathrow but are prevented by a jamming signal that disrupts their remote control of the drone.

The London Metropolitan Police said that they arrested two men within the perimeter of the airport on “suspicion of conspiracy to commit a public nuisance in relation to operations at Heathrow Airport” on the morning of September 13. Credit: Heathrow Pause via Storyful