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Drones piloted by climate-change activists target Heathrow

economist.com

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Re: Drones piloted by climate-change activists target Heathrow

#21

Post by frereubu »

inflatableDodo wrote: post #12

>"Protesters plan a return to the airport—and there is very little the authorities can do" This line is curious. When was the first one? I mean there was the shenanigans where nobody was sure if there was even a drone, but there was in that case, as far as I am aware, no evidence for any activism beyond people saying that it might be activists. I am dubious about this reporting. If someone can show me something from…

Nothing huge, but it did happen: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/19/extincti...

Re: Drones piloted by climate-change activists target Heathrow

#22

Post by peteretep »

roywiggins wrote: post #17
zmmmmm wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hyperbole to suggest that risk exists when the protestors are telling everyone the exact date, time and location they will fly the drones. If the airport still chooses to fly airplanes during that time and people still choose to get on them, then I think you can't say the risk was introduced by the protestors. Which is not to say I agree or disagree with the protestors, but please don't dilute the meaning of ter…

The Provisional IRA did the same thing with bombings, and they were definitely terrorists. Not that I think these people are terrorists, but "telling everyone ahead of time" isn't an inoculation.

> The IRA's armed campaign, primarily in Northern Ireland but also in England and mainland Europe, caused the deaths of approximately 1,800 people

I mean I feel like that's a difference? What's Extinction Rebellion's body count?

Re: Drones piloted by climate-change activists target Heathrow

#23

Post by teachrdan »

gok wrote: post #15

If the goal is simply to disrupt air travel, why not just call in a bomb threat?

Because they're not terrorists. Terrorists use violence (and credible threats of violence) against civilians to achieve political ends.

Instead, the activists here are disrupting air traffic using nonviolent means.

Re: Drones piloted by climate-change activists target Heathrow

#24

Post by gok »

teachrdan wrote: post #23
gok wrote: post #15

If the goal is simply to disrupt air travel, why not just call in a bomb threat?

Because they're not terrorists. Terrorists use violence (and credible threats of violence) against civilians to achieve political ends. Instead, the activists here are disrupting air traffic using nonviolent means.

They are most certainly terrorists. How is "I'm going to blow up an airplane unless you don't fly it" different from "I'm going to fly a robot into an airplane, potentially causing loss of life unless you don't fly it"?

How about "I'm going to aim blinding lasers at pilot flying a plane unless you don't fly the plane?"

Re: Drones piloted by climate-change activists target Heathrow

#25

Post by inflatableDodo »

frereubu wrote: post #21
inflatableDodo wrote: post #12

>"Protesters plan a return to the airport—and there is very little the authorities can do" This line is curious. When was the first one? I mean there was the shenanigans where nobody was sure if there was even a drone, but there was in that case, as far as I am aware, no evidence for any activism beyond people saying that it might be activists. I am dubious about this reporting. If someone can show me something from…

Nothing huge, but it did happen: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/19/extincti...

That example is just the same kind of protest that Heathrow has contended with since being built though. It doesn't say anything about drones.

Re: Drones piloted by climate-change activists target Heathrow

#26

Post by gok »

frereubu wrote: post #20
gok wrote: post #15

If the goal is simply to disrupt air travel, why not just call in a bomb threat?

That would likely lead to a much more serious criminal charge because it's more closely related to terrorism. People who are arrested for making jokes about having a bomb in their suitcase when going through customs at an airport find out very quickly how seriously those kinds of things are taken, particularly in a country with a relatively recent history of terrorist bombings and a high state of alert for terrorist…

So they're just taking advantage of the current legal loophole that bombs and drones are treated differently, despite the fact that they can be similarly dangerous to airplanes?

Re: Drones piloted by climate-change activists target Heathrow

#27

Post by msla »

inflatableDodo wrote: post #12

>"Protesters plan a return to the airport—and there is very little the authorities can do" This line is curious. When was the first one? I mean there was the shenanigans where nobody was sure if there was even a drone, but there was in that case, as far as I am aware, no evidence for any activism beyond people saying that it might be activists. I am dubious about this reporting. If someone can show me something from…

And maybe I'm taking the news reports too literally, but... certainly the authorities have shotguns.

If this becomes disruptive, well, the aircraft are unmanned.

Re: Drones piloted by climate-change activists target Heathrow

#28

Post by frereubu »

inflatableDodo wrote: post #25
frereubu wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing huge, but it did happen: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/19/extincti...

That example is just the same kind of protest that Heathrow has contended with since being built though. It doesn't say anything about drones.

The article is unclear - but I think you've got the wrong end of the stick. The subhead in the Economist article doesn't say anything about drones either.

Re: Drones piloted by climate-change activists target Heathrow

#29

Post by detaro »

gok wrote: post #24
teachrdan wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because they're not terrorists. Terrorists use violence (and credible threats of violence) against civilians to achieve political ends. Instead, the activists here are disrupting air traffic using nonviolent means.

They are most certainly terrorists. How is "I'm going to blow up an airplane unless you don't fly it" different from "I'm going to fly a robot into an airplane, potentially causing loss of life unless you don't fly it"? How about "I'm going to aim blinding lasers at pilot flying a plane unless you don't fly the plane?"

Except they are not threatening to fly a drone into a plane.

Re: Drones piloted by climate-change activists target Heathrow

#30

Post by sdinsn »

perfunctory wrote: post #3

Off topic. I am getting a cognitive dissonance from the statements like "The airport is part of our national infrastructure...". Heathrow is owned by Heathrow Airport Holdings, private company.

The fact that it's owned by a private company is irrelevant to it's importance. Furthermore, "national" in this context doesn't mean "owned by the government", it means "domestic".
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