Extinction Rebellion activist tells LBC he receives "death threats"

18 February 2020, 15:16 | Updated: 18 February 2020, 15:32

Climate activist Nathan told LBC he had received death threats for being a part of Extinction Rebellion.

His comments come following the news that the group dug up a prized lawn at Trinity College in protest over the Cambridge university "destroying nature".

Speaking about the threats, Nathan told Shelagh Fogarty: "We've had online, and we've had emails to private and group email addresses and we refer to the police but, of course, the police struggle to do much with them, because, you know, they get those sorts of threats passed on to them every day from lots of different people around, you know, in communities around the country.

"It's not just environmental activists."

He gave the examples to highlight that people are not fans of what XR are doing - a previous LBC caller suggested the activists got "sterilised and sued" - because of their attempts to get politicians to respond.

He said: "We've had people that didn't like what we are doing and and we are the only movement that is taking action that is commensurate with the urgency that we need.

"We need to see politicians responding."

Earlier in the conversation, Shelagh asked: "But you accept that there's a risk that you antagonise, to the point of people turning their backs on you?"

Nathan replied: "So absolutely. Some people don't like us, some people probably will never like us.

"But the goal isn't to win over 100% of the population. It is to win over that percentage of the population that understands that we're acting with the necessary urgency, the urgency, the scientists say that we need to act, and no other group is doing that."