Three people have been arrested on suspicion of a terror offence, after two planes at an RAF base were vandalised in an action claimed by soon-to-be banned campaign group Palestine Action.
Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE) said a woman, aged 29, of no fixed address, and two men, aged 36 and 24, from London, have been taken into police custody after the incident at RAF Brize Norton on June 20.
They are accused of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, contrary to Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
A 41-year-old woman, of no fixed address, was also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, they said.
Palestine Action previously posted footage online showing people inside the Oxfordshire base, with one person appearing to ride an electric scooter up to an Airbus Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker, before spray painting into its jet engine.
CTPSE said the four arrests were made in London and the Newbury area of Berkshire on Thursday.
The Home Secretary made the decision to proscribe Palestine Action following the incident, with the arrests coming just days before the proscription is set to come into force.
Support for the group will become a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison when the ban comes into effect as soon as next Friday.
Palestine Action has staged demonstrations that have included spraying the London offices of Allianz Insurance with red paint and vandalising US President Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire.
As she announced plans for Palestine Action’s proscription, Yvette Cooper said the group’s methods have become “more aggressive”, with its members showing “willingness to use violence”.
At the time of the incident, the group said it had “directly intervened in the genocide and prevented crimes against the Palestinian people” by “decommissioning two military planes”.
Palestine Action said Thursday’s arrests “further demonstrates that proscription is not about enabling prosecutions under terrorism laws – it’s about cracking down on non-violent protests which disrupt the flow of arms to Israel during its genocide in Palestine”.
A spokesperson for the group said: “The fact this arrest has taken place before the proposed proscription has been voted on further demonstrates that proscription is not about enabling prosecutions under terrorism laws – it’s about cracking down on non-violent protests which disrupt the flow of arms to Israel during its genocide in Palestine.
“Proscribing Palestine Action is a political gesture to satisfy pro-Israel groups and arms companies who have been lobbying for us to be banned because we’re hitting their profits and having a real impact on Israel’s war machine.
“In response to widespread condemnation of the Government’s proposed proscription of Palestine Action from the leading human rights organisations among others, the Home Secretary claimed it was an accumulation of actions which led to her assessment rather than a knee-jerk reaction by a humiliated Government.
“However, this arrest confirms they are treating red paint on military planes as an act of terrorism, despite the fact that the same action by protesters for decades – including the protester Keir Starmer defended – has never been treated as terrorism.
“The only difference is that this time it was done for Palestine and this Government is in the pocket of the weapons companies arming Israel’s war crimes.”
