Six days after two Royal Air Force jets were disabled at a UK airbase, counterterrorism police have arrested four individuals.
Two men from London, aged 36 and 24, were taken into custody under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act of 2000 on suspicion of “commission, preparation or incitement of terrorist acts.” This section allows for the arrest of a person reasonably suspected of being involved in terrorism without a warrant.
A 41-year-old woman, along with another woman who remains unidentified, were also arrested under suspicion of supporting the first two individuals, according to the Southeast Counterterrorism Police.
All four were apprehended in Newbury, Berkshire, located about 60 miles west of London.
Authorities stated that the arrests had connections to an incident that occurred last Friday, when two aircraft sustained damage at RAF Brize Norton.
As previously noted, Palestinian Action, linked to the extinction rebellion movement, released footage last Friday showing activists on the Royal Air Force runway, the UK’s largest air force base, spraying a fire-retardant agent onto the aircraft.
What’s surprising is that the activists managed to infiltrate the airbase for six continuous days without being detected before their arrests.
While the government has not yet fully identified the suspects involved, it swiftly announced plans to include Palestinian Action on its list of banned terrorist organizations, making membership a criminal offense. Proposed legislation to effect this change is expected soon.
Palestinian Action has neither confirmed nor denied whether those arrested are affiliated with the group but criticized the government’s decision to classify them as terrorists. They argued that the intention behind the ban is not to uphold terrorism laws, but rather to suppress peaceful protests aimed at disrupting arms shipments to Israel amidst the ongoing situation in Palestine.
