Protestor scales massive building crane to unfurl Black Lives Matter banner in east London ‘and plans to stay there for several days’
- Police were called to Hallsville Road in Canning Town at around 7.30am today
- Officers remain at the scene after a man climbed a crane next to a building site
- The protester has unfurled a Black Lives Matter atop the towering crane
A protester has scaled a massive building crane to unfurl a Black Lives Matter banner in east London this morning with plans to ‘stay there for several days’.
Footage taken from Canning Town shows a man clinging on to the towering crane, which stands in the middle of a building site.
Met Police were called to the scene in Hallsville Road at around 7.30am this morning and officers are still there.
Baffled onlookers are questioning how he managed to scale the structure, with one describing it as a ‘skyscraper crane’.
Another person filming the protest said he intended to stay atop the crane for ‘several days,’ and has carried fireworks up with him.
The protester was seen clambering along the towering structure after arriving earlier today
A banner with the message ‘Black Lives Matter’ has been placed along the crane in Canning Town, east London, today
The crane is thought to be nearly 100ft tall and appears to be there for building work as part of Hallsville Quarter housing development in Canning Town
Live footage from the scene shows the protester wearing a grey jumper, gloves and a mask.
It is not clear how he scaled the crane at this stage.
Power has been turned off to the structure, while police have not attempted to climb it.
Keith Allen, from Canning Town, told The Evening Standard: ‘There were lots of police around and people watching from near the Morrisons below.
Police are at the scene, while onlookers below watch the hooded protester atop the crane
Onlookers say the banner is ‘too small to read’ from below. Met Police confirmed it was called at around 7.30am today
The protester was filmed walking along the crane before returning to the ‘towering cranes’ main area
‘I don’t know how he managed to get up there because it’s one of the big skyscraper cranes.
‘It was hard to see exactly what was going on because the banner he displayed was too small to read.’
A Met Police spokesman said: ‘We were made aware about 7.30am this morning about a protest at Hallsville Road in Canning Town, a man has scaled a crane at the location, officers are on scene.
‘No arrests, enquiries are ongoing.’
The crane appears to be situated in the Hallsville Quarter development in Canning Town, which is creating more than 600 homes as well as shops and office space.