The man who climbed the Elizabeth Tower, which houses the iconic Big Ben clock, in the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, carrying a Palestinian flag, has come down after more than 16 hours and has already been arrested.
“The man has already been arrested. This has been a prolonged incident due to the specific characteristics of where the man was and the need to ensure the safety of our officers, the individual and the general public,” confirmed the London Police in a statement on their X account.
Previously, they had reported that “at 7.24 am on Saturday 8 March, officers were alerted that a man was climbing the Elizabeth Tower, in the Houses of Parliament.”
“Officers are on the scene working to bring the incident to a safe conclusion. They are receiving assistance from the London Fire Brigade and the London Ambulance Service,” the note adds.
Later, a fire truck lifted three men on a platform to the height where the activist is and they held a conversation with him. Meanwhile, he continues to publish photographs and videos on his social media accounts.
“You will have to come down at some point. How long do you think you will be there? How long do you think you can be there?” a woman dressed in plain clothes asks the man from the crane, according to the video posted on social media. The activist himself replies that he will come down on his own terms. “Right now I am fine and safe,” he added.
In another video, the man, who is barefoot, seems to declare his intention to stand for three and a half days on the ledge with the flag and the kufiya or Palestinian scarf.
Meanwhile, dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered near Parliament after police intervened, preventing the rally from taking place near the headquarters of the public television network, the BBC. The police argued that the rally was close to a synagogue on Saturday, the Jewish holy day.
The organisers, Palestine Pulse, XR for Palestine and other groups, moved the rally to the Government headquarters in Downing Street and, as they passed by Big Ben, they expressed their support for the man perched on the tower.
