Six persons were arrested on Sunday (14th January) in connection with an alleged plot to disrupt the London Stock Exchange (LSE) when it opened for trading on Monday, according to London’s Metropolitan Police.
Detectives initiated an inquiry after the Daily Express tabloid sent information to the Metropolitan Police on Friday. Arrests were made in London, Liverpool, and Brighton on Sunday.
According to a police statement, activists from the Palestine Action Organization planned to target the exchange on Monday morning, causing damage and preventing it from “opening for trading.”
The LSE has not had a physical trading floor since 1986, with all stock trading conducted electronically. On Monday, the UK markets were operating normally.
Palestine Action is a British-based activist group that seeks to disrupt the operations of weapons manufacturers who supply the Israeli government.
In a post on X on Sunday, the group said that the LSE raised “billions of pounds for the apartheid state of Israel” and “actively” boasted about its backing for Israeli enterprises.
According to a post on X from Palestine Action, five of the six arrested activists have been released, while one has been charged with an offense and is scheduled to appear in court soon.
Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Sian Thomas stated, “These are significant arrests. We believe this group was prepared to carry out a disruptive and harmful prank, which might have had major consequences if carried out successfully.”
“I’m grateful to the Express for their willingness to provide the information gleaned from their own investigation. It was instrumental in helping us intervene successfully. Having only been provided with the material on Friday afternoon, we had limited time to act,” he added.
