A student who was arrested after allegedly throwing eggs at King Charles and the Queen Consort says he has been charged with an offence and banned from carrying eggs in public. Patrick Thelwell, 23, claims he is the man who was arrested after eggs were thrown in York earlier this week and has hit out at the crowd, who he claims were "screaming and wailing with pure rage".
Thelwell, a student at the University of York, told The Mirror that he was held by police for several hours. He said: "After I was arrested the experience of that crowd, literally screaming and wailing with pure rage. Saying that my head should be on a spike, that I should be murdered on the spot. It doesn't phase me because I understand what fascism is, what it looks like. People were ripping chunks of my hair out, they were spitting at me. People lost their minds. It's just so revealing to see when you challenge someone’s beliefs in that way, the belief of the superiority of this man’s blood.”
When asked why he targeted the King, who has been trying to raise awareness about climate change for decades, Thelwell said: “If that is what we take as someone who has done the most for climate change it shows you how low the bar is! This is a man who dresses in stolen jewels from India and Africa and every other colony.
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Thelwell added: "I was let out at 10pm so it wasn’t that bad really. My friends were waiting for me. My solicitor was very good." His bail conditions include not being allowed to be 500 metres within the King and not being allowed to possess any eggs in a public place, although he says that condition had to be altered so he could go grocery shopping.
He said he has been charged with Section 4 public order offence and due in court on December 1. Talking about the incident, he said: "I've had death threats, people on DM, Instagram, saying: “If I’m not careful I'm going to get my head cut off’. People (the public) were kicking me. Of course they were. I challenged the very core of their identity. The police tried to stop me saying what I was saying."
Thelwell said he tried to pelt the king with eggs because he didn't believe in kings. "I believe in the equality of all people. It's a protest against the state of this country and the descent into fascism," he said. "We have a Government that are enacting fascist policies particularly by their treatment of refugees. The media whipping up hatred."
He added: "Look at the rhetoric just days after a far-right extremist firebombed a refugee centre. Then you have the Government talking about an invasion. I don't believe in borders. I don't believe in nation-states. I believe in people. I believe in democracy and solidarity with all the world's people who are suffering right now in large part because of conditions created by the British state.
“The United Kingdom as a whole, needs to be abolished, dissolved and its assets given as reparations to help the world and build resilience to the climate breakout that we have caused. It's time for the people of the world to unite and have the revolution that we desperately need to survive.”
Patrick said he has spoken to his mum, a teacher, since his release and he said she was "concerned" about him but okay with him, adding "It's not our first rodeo". According to The Sun, Thelwell has previously attended big Extinction Rebellion protests and been arrested several times. In 2019, he was among four people in a so-called peace tent in Trafalgar Square, and last year he was convicted for obstructing a highway after joining protests blocking newspaper printing presses.
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