More than 40 people, including Greenpeace UK’s programme director, Amy Cameron, have been arrested after a protest outside pesticide company Syngenta’s Yorkshire headquarters.
A number of the activists locked themselves on to 15 blue pesticide barrels outside the headquarters, blocking the gates and leading to the temporary closure of the local A62. Activists had transformed a roundabout outside the front entrance into a giant hazard symbol carrying the message “Syngenta poisons nature” with an arrow pointing directly at the building. The action took place on World Bee day.
West Yorkshire police confirmed that “at 4.33am today (20 May), police received a report of a group of protesters outside the gates of a business premises off Leeds Road, Deighton, Huddersfield. Officers were deployed to the scene to monitor the situation and to ensure there was no wider disruption.
Imagine having to regularly arrest people who are deemed hero’s by many. Why would you want to become a cop?
Greenpeace has accused Syngenta of driving wildlife decline and threatening UK food security by making and selling pesticides that poison British wildlife. A recent report by the NGO found that just one teaspoon of the Syngenta-made pesticide, Hallmark, was enough to kill 13 million bees.
This bit is important to highlight.
“Activists arrested for protesting against environmentally damaging pesticides by UK police” is a better headline.
If you’re going to be picky about the headline, I’d argue this is worse. You’ve created a detached modifier that makes it sound like the police are the ones using the pesticides.
It should instead read: ‘Activists arrested by UK police for protesting against environmentally-damaging pesticides’.
I was trying to frame it such that the UK police are framed as “the bad guys”, not the activists.
