The new national Student Climate Project’s launch event, being held in Cambridge on Friday the 15th of February, has been subjected to a heavy-handed police operation seemingly designed to crush even the most peaceful of climate change activities.

The Student Climate Project are planning A Day of Active Outreach for this Friday the 15th of February, where activities will consist of an extreme weather flash mob, street theatre, and many other participatory activities centring around Market Square and beginning at 1pm.

Yet, it can be revealed that, despite the peaceful and lawful nature of the event, the police’s Special Branch have been monitoring the Project’s website for sometime, and have been since intimidating the activists taking part. A Detective Inspector turned up at a student activist’s room, without having the proper right to do so. Furthermore, over fifty police officers will be present for the day’s activities. The police even went as far as contacting Cambridge University’s Proctors, who are responsible for policing student activities, to attempt to deter any disruptive activity from taking place.

The heavy-handed police presence has angered many of the activists involved in the event, who worry that the immense police interference will distract from the day’s key positive objective, which is raising awareness about the seriousness of climate change and inspiring other students into action.

It echoes the large levels of policing, which campaigners encountered at the Heathrow Climate Camp earlier this year, where police went as far as blocking essential supplies from being delivered into the camp.

“The fact that over fifty officers are being drawn in to police a single outreach event is absolutely preposterous”, said Bradley Day from Swansea University who is involved with organising the event. “Yet, it demonstrates that the police recognise the threat the radical climate movement represents to ‘business as usual’. Many members of the public are rapidly turning to direct action, having lost faith in the government and big corporations’ ability to effectively tackle climate change and reduce emissions by the required 90% before 2030. Only the wider population can achieve these cuts through a sustained action campaign against the root causes of climate change, and this campaign is what we are here to promote”.

“The fact that the police are now trying to suppress even peaceful outreach events demonstrates the extent they are willing to go in order to stop the anti-climate change voice being heard”, said Jack Jones, a drama student from London coming to the event. “Yet our words and actions are radical only because the science itself is radical. Already 150 thousand people are dying from climate change every year according to The World Health Organisation, and the human consequences of going beyond tipping point are simply unimaginable. How could we ever forgive ourselves if we don’t take all necessary action now?”

The Student Climate Project was set up at the Heathrow Climate Camp in the summer of 2007. The Project’s aim is to inspire the wider body of students into taking radical climate action. They are currently holding a Tour of Climate Action beginning in Cambridge this month, with the next date set to be the 11th April at Roehampton.

All are welcome to come to the event and join in. It kicks off with our extreme weather flash mob at 1pm in Market Square (15th Feb) and continues thoughout the afternoon.