Daily Stormer The Most Censored Publication in History
Francesca Infante
Daily Mail
July 26, 2013
- Protesters arrested as campaigners gathered for second day in Balcombe
- Campaigners claim they fear the impact of chemicals linked to fracking
- Police arrested protesters as they cleared a blockade at the rural site
Villagers blocking a rural drilling site earmarked for fracking were dragged away by police yesterday as protests turned ugly.
Around a hundred police – including trained riot officers – were brought in to break up the blockade which was in its second day in the West Sussex countryside near Balcombe.
The site, which has been selected for exploratory drilling by fracking company Cuadrilla, has attracted a growing number of protesters all week who until yesterday morning had managed to block all access from the road.
But last night Sussex Police confirmed that 16 protesters had been arrested after they sat on logs across the entrance and refused to move.
Trucks and equipment for the drilling were then escorted into the site by officers.
Anti-fracking campaigners including a former page three model and the daughter of Pretenders singer Chrissie Hynde have vowed to mount a round-the-clock campaign of resistance to the fracking.
Natalie Hynde, 30, said she was delighted to be part of the movement and dubbed yesterday’s police reaction ‘over the top’.
She said: ‘It was quite distressing when they started making the arrests. I saw police brutality. Someone had her ears twisted and thumbs pushed back, it was extremely upsetting.’
Miss Hynde, who defines herself as a professional activist, has been protesting at the site entrance for four days. She said: ‘I think fracking is a dangerous and expensive way of producing energy when there are opportunities to invest in renewables instead. It’s a bit like sucking the very life blood out of the planet.’
