The video has gone viral
A builder appeared to be handcuffed and detained by police on Tuesday after he got out of his vehicle and shoved a Just Stop Oil protester to the ground.
The protesters brought three major London bridges to a standstill on Tuesday morning.
In dramatic scenes captured on video, and now going viral on social media, the man, dressed in a grey hoodie and orange trousers is seen approaching protesters on Blackfriars Bridge.
He grabs one protester and shoves him towards the pavement before letting him go, as the man falls to the pavement.
The builder then tries to do the same thing to a second protester before he is intercepted by a police officer.
Assisted by a second officer, the builder is then held up against a van as horns can be heard from angry motorists.
Police shout at the builder to “put your arms behind your back” as they detain him on suspicion of common assault.
The Met later said the man was not arrested.
One of the activists, Barry Farrent, is quoted in the Evening Standard as saying: “Society needs to wake up to the ongoing destruction of our home.
“These criminal politicians have us on the highway to climate hell with their foot on the accelerator. The UK has a proud history of civil resistance and bringing about world-wide change.”
The Met confirmed that a man had been “detained” by officers around 8.25am for common assault “after an altercation between him and two Just Stop Oil protesters on Blackfriars Bridge”.
It added: “There have been no arrests. Police are investigating the matter.”
In a tweet about the incident that contained the video, Just Stop Oil wrote: “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 realising taking action is the right thing to do.”
The video has been viewed over half a million times.
The incident came during large-scale protests on Tuesday with 45 activists slow-marching across London, Tower and Blackfriars Bridges.
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