Four arrested over Palestine Action break-in at RAF Brize Norton
A 29-year-old woman and two men aged 36 and 24 have been arrested on suspicion of a terror offence following a break-in at RAF Brize Norton.
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Two Voyager aircraft were damaged after activists broke into the RAF base in Oxfordshire and sprayed paint into the engine of an aircraft.
A fourth individual was arrested by the force on suspicion of aiding an offender, Counter Terrorism Policing South East confirmed on Friday, following an investigation into the break-in at the military base.
The campaign group, Palestine Action, claimed responsibility following the incident, releasing a video of the break-in online.
The clip showed one person riding an electric scooter to an Airbus aircraft, which is used for air-to-air refuelling, before unleashing the red paint.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer condemned the action as "disgraceful", saying it was an "act of vandalism" - as a security review was launched.
On Monday, the government is set to ban Palestine Action under UK anti-terrorism laws.
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Counter Terrorism Policing South East said in a statement: “A 29-year-old woman of no fixed abode, and two men; aged 36 and 24, both from London, were arrested on suspicion 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 abode, was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender."
"The arrests, which took place yesterday [Thursday] in Newbury, Berkshire, and in London, are in connection with an incident in the early hours of [last] Friday during which damage was caused to two aircraft at RAF Brize Norton.
“Those arrested are currently in police custody while enquiries are ongoing.”
Brize Norton remains the UK's largest RAF station, the base for approximately 5,800 service personnel, 300 civilian staff and 1,200 contractors.
The arrests come after a row erupted over Scotland Yard’s decision to ignore a pro-Palestine protester who was pictured dressed as a Holocaust concentration camp inmate.
Members of the Jewish community have accused Maria Gallastegui of wearing a “religiously aggravated” outfit in the latest wave of “two-tier” policing allegations against the Met.
As part of the outfit, Ms Gallastegui replaced the Jewish Star of David with a Muslim symbol.
The Met have been accused of ignoring the outfit at a protest against the decision to proscribe Palestine Action, a group focused on protesting Israel’s assault ongoing assault on Gaza, which has killed at least 53,000 people.
Last week saw police and protesters clash during a demo in central London, after the government banned Palestine Action in the UK.
Pro Palestinian protesters rally in support of activists Palestine Action as the British government start the process of proscribing the group and putting them on the terrorist list. It seems the final straw was a recent attack on transport planes at RAF Brize Norton where two activists sprayed paint in the plane engines.
Palestine Action say they were scheduled to transport weapons to Israel to be used against Palestinians.