The City of London police are investigating claims by environmental activists to have carried out acts of sabotage on the offices of major insurers and financial institutions.
Activist group Shut the System said its supporters had cut cables and glued electrical service cabinets at JP Morgan Chase and Allianz, in what it described as the start of “a period of sustained sabotage” against fossil fuel finance.
The group also claimed to have targeted the Northampton HQ of Barclaycard, saying its activists had cut the 5G cable to the communications mast serving the building.
Shut the System distributed photographs purporting to show its supporters carrying out the actions. Northampton police said they had not received any report of vandalism.
Supt Jo Cash of the City of London police, said: “We are aware of a social media post by Shut the System, which alleges that criminal damage has been caused to infrastructure in the City of London.
“We have had no reports of any criminal activity at this time, but we’re speaking to those companies mentioned in the post and the wider business community. Inquiries are ongoing.”
Shut the System said it targeted JP Morgan because it was “ranked the world’s largest banking investor in fossil fuels”, while Barclays was targeted because it was Europe’s largest.
Allianz was targeted, according to Shut the System, because it is the sixth biggest insurer of fossil fuel projects and also insures Elbit Systems, the Israeli arms company. A Shut the System spokesperson said: “I am enraged by the financial sector’s continued support for deadly industries.
“‘Just doing our job’ wasn’t an excuse in world war 2 and it isn’t today. They have a choice of which industries they finance. I cannot bear to stand idly by while those in power continue to exacerbate global problems just so the wealthy few can make increased profits.
“It is unhinged, psychopathic greed at the expense of billions of people.”
The group says it is calling for financial institutions to stop all finance and insurance for fossil fuel expansion immediately; adopt 1.5C-aligned emissions-reduction targets for oil, gas, and coal; demand robust 1.5C-aligned transition plans for all existing fossil fuel clients; protect Indigenous peoples’ and human rights; and scale up financing for a just and fair transition. If the financial sector ignores their demands, then by October they will escalate further, the group said.
JP Morgan and Barclays were contacted for comment. A spokesperson for Allianz said there was no disruption or impact on its business operations.
Shut the System previously targeted insurance companies in the City in January, sabotaging fibre optic cables in an action that one cybersecurity expert said caused a “significant slowdown of internet speed” in the district.
Its clandestine tactics are a departure from those of Extinction Rebellion and its successors Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil, for whom accountability for their actions was a key part of their modus operandi.
A number of supporters of Just Stop Oil have received lengthy sentences after a crackdown on environmental activism that has included a number of draconian new laws passed and stiffer sentences handed down to direct action protesters.
Shut the System’s spokesperson said: “We have been forced underground by draconian anti-protest laws. The British state has recently shown how much they are willing to suppress peaceful protest.
“History shows direct action and sabotage are highly effective so we cannot stop while the climate emergency wages on and we see the most hopeful path forward is to operate beyond the state’s reach.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
