Protesters reportedly associated with the radical environmentalist group Extinction Rebellion blocked one of the main roads in Rome during rush hour by sitting in the middle of the highway.
Drivers then exited their cars on the Grande Raccordo Anulare, which encircles Rome, walked over, yanked the protesters and threw them to the side of the road.
Roma, attivisti bloccano GRA in protesta contro gas e carbone, automobilisti inferociti tentano di rimuoverli #granderaccordoanulare #extinctionrebellion #localteam pic.twitter.com/hVmgdZihhV
— Local Team (@localteamtv) June 16, 2022
“The adolescent demonstrators were members of an Extinction Rebellion offshoot organization called the ‘Last Generation’ movement, according to Italian magazine Corriere Dello Sport,” tdpelmedia.com reported.
In October 2019, protesters from Extinction Rebellion climbed on top of trains in Stratford, Canning Town, and Shadwell during rush hour; service on the Jubilee Line and Docklands Light Railway was temporarily suspended.
At the Canning Town station, a few furious commuters yanked two of the protesters off train cars.
“The two activists used a ladder to climb up onto the carriage, causing passengers to begin shouting at them to get down before launching a physical attack,” Metro reported. “A man was seen throwing a bag of crisps at the pair, while others chucked their drinks and bits of cardboard as the number of people on the platform grew.”
In October of last year, an English woman trying to transport her ailing 81-year-old mother to a hospital tearfully cried at a group of eco-activists that blocked streets in London for over four hours, “How can you be so selfish?”
The unidentified woman was videotaped lashing out at members of the Extinction Rebellion splinter group Insulate Britain as she was blocked at Blackwall Tunnel from getting her mother to a Canterbury hospital, the Daily Mail reported.
“Insulate Britain — which is demanding the Government pay for all homes in the country to be insulated by 2030 — has brought major roads to a standstill with eleven protests in less than three weeks,” the outlet reports. “Around 450 arrests have been made so far.”
The woman cried, “She’s in there. She’s going to a hospital in Canterbury. Do you think I’m stupid? … Please move your cars. Please. … This isn’t okay. This isn’t okay. … How can you be so selfish? How can you be so selfish? … My mum is 81 and she’s going to the hospital.”
Florida GOP governor Ron DeSantis has made it clear he will not tolerate protesters blocking roads. He said in July 2021, “We can’t have that. It’s dangerous for you to be shutting down a thoroughfare. You’re also putting other people in jeopardy. You don’t know if an emergency vehicle needs to get somewhere, and then obviously it’s just disrespectful to make people stand in traffic.”
“It can’t be where you shut down commerce or you shut down the ability to use these arteries … especially in a place like Miami where the traffic can be very bad,” he added.