{"id":4610,"date":"2022-05-12T08:00:18","date_gmt":"2022-05-12T07:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/?p=4610"},"modified":"2022-05-12T09:14:19","modified_gmt":"2022-05-12T08:14:19","slug":"a-citizens-arrest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-citizens-arrest\/","title":{"rendered":"A Citizen\u2019s Arrest<\/span>Carsten Jensen<\/span>"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat if I got to jail?\u201d I thought, when Extinction Rebellion Denmark asked me to speak at the opening of its week of protest. Because this is the point we\u2019ve reached: the point where states come down more heavily on climate protest than on tax evasion. When he was jailed for his role in the resistance during the Occupation in the 1940s, the Danish writer Martin Andersen Nex\u00f8 said: \u201cNow the state is giving me the recognition I deserve.\u201d I turn seventy this summer, and I am not claiming to be as brave as Nex\u00f8. But I agreed to help block the bridges outside Parliament \u2013 if you watched <\/span>Borgen<\/span><\/i>, you\u2019ll recognise them \u2013 because I simply don\u2019t believe that politicians have the will or the nerve to do what\u2019s needed. And when governments fail their citizens, citizens must take a stand.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Behind the tide of Danish government greenwash there\u2019s been some modest climate progress here. But with agribusiness and industry still calling the shots and new motorways being built at the expense of public transport, our leaders are still overwhelmingly committed to business as usual. The largely unspoken truth is that no one, including (and perhaps especially) the political establishment, believes that Denmark will meet its much-vaunted target of slashing carbon emissions by 70 percent before 2030.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If the Earth is to remain habitable for future generations, then something radical must happen. Fast.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By mid-afternoon, the police have cleared all the occupied bridges except one: H\u00f8jbro, which crosses the canal that encircles Parliament. When I\u2019ve given my speech, I sit down with the others on the tarmac. Solidarity is infectious. One by one, we\u2019re dragged off by the police, with the crowd chanting “You are not alone, you are not alone, you are not alone!” It\u2019s a simple message, and as I\u2019m shoved into a van it gives me courage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the back are three other detainees, all achingly young. I could be their grandfather. The police take our phones and tie our hands behind our backs with plastic cuffs, and we speed through the Friday rush hour, sirens wailing. In a long windowless corridor at the police station we are greeted with cheers and foot-stamping by the 70 protesters already there, reminding us that we\u2019re not alone here, either. I feel grateful to be among people who care enough about the planet to risk their liberty, and it strikes me that I have never been more welcome anywhere than here, and now. <\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After four hours sitting on a narrow bench in handcuffs with our backs against the wall, singing to keep our spirits up, we\u2019re summoned in turn. The processing officer clearly knows who I am, and it\u2019s equally clear that he\u2019s not a fan. He says it\u2019s a busy night, so I\u2019ll have to wait in a cell until the ‘investigators’ can interview me, which might not be until tomorrow. I am now regarded as a criminal, he tells me. “But I\u2019m sure you did a cost-benefit analysis before you made the decision”, he adds with a smirk.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The other rebels are locked up in groups, but I get the dubious privilege of solitary confinement. My suite, eight metres square with white walls and a filthy concrete floor, is bare. There\u2019s no furniture, no toilet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Then, instead of simply locking me up and leaving, the officer orders me to strip. I wasn\u2019t expecting this but I comply. Are the other detainees being strip-searched too? When I\u2019m standing naked in front of him, the officer orders me to lift my testicles, and I wonder if he\u2019ll do due diligence and stick his finger up my rectum too. I don\u2019t know if Martin Andersen Nex\u00f8 endured the same humiliation when he was imprisoned. But since all states behave the same way when their power is challenged, my guess is yes. After the officer has looked me over (my rectum is spared) he lets me put on socks, underpants, pants and t-shirt, but not my sweater or jacket.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s around 8pm by now. It\u2019s cold, and I haven\u2019t eaten since morning. I know I have the right to make a phone call, but the officer tells me brusquely \u201cthat\u2019s for the investigators to decide\u201d, and locks the door on me. There will be no phone call. During the eight hours I spend in custody, I will be cut off from the outside world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have a choice, in this cell: moving in restless circles, or surrendering to the dirty floor. There is a bell on the wall, to use if I need the toilet \u2013 which within an hour, I do. I ring 23 times. Nothing happens. Getting desperate, I start kicking the door \u2013 my foot still hurts from it \u2013 and finally an officer calls through the door that the toilet \u201cwill be occupied for some time.\u201d After an hour and a half of squeezing my buttocks together, there is a change of guard, and I can finally go.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Towards midnight the ‘investigators’ materialize. They seem bored. They mug-shot and fingerprint me, and swab me for DNA. One of them tells me that I might get 18 months in prison. \u201cBut you\u2019ll probably get less,\u201d he adds, sarcastically, \u201cfor being an innocent citizen\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Outside, XR non-arrested activists are waiting with water, sandwiches and hugs. I learn that more than 150 of us have been arrested \u2013 close to the number arrested during the infamous COP15 in 2009, after which the police were formally reprimanded by the Supreme Court for their brutal handling of protesters.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019m not an innocent citizen. But I hope one day it will be clear to everyone what a waste of resources it was for police to arrest and humiliate people who could be their siblings, their friends, their kids, their parents or their grandparents, when all those people wanted was a better world. I\u2019d like the generations ahead to see me as a good ancestor who realised the urgency of the climate emergency in time and did what he could to lessen the impact of what was coming. And that I was far from alone. One day history will speak of the young idealists like those I met on H\u00f8jbro, who refused to let their future be colonised, and it will call them the most responsible generation it had known, because they embodied the possible when it was still a dream.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

May these young people be seen as role-models. May there be a mass global movement that fills the police stations and the prisons until they\u2019re bursting, and sweeps away all that blocks the vital change this planet needs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And if the parliaments of the world are one day the nests in which a just future is hatched, may the Earth\u2019s most visionary citizens fly in through their windows and lay their eggs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Carsten Jensen<\/strong>\u00a0is one of Denmark\u2019s most celebrated literary voices, and the prize-winning author of many books, including\u00a0I Have Seen the World Begin<\/i>,\u00a0The First Stone <\/i>and\u00a0We, The Drowned.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  \u201cWhat if I got to jail?\u201d I thought, when Extinction Rebellion Denmark asked me to speak at the opening of its week of protest. Because this is the point we\u2019ve reached: the point where states come down more heavily on climate protest than on tax evasion. When he was jailed for his role in […]<\/p>\n

Read More… from A Citizen\u2019s Arrest<\/span>Carsten Jensen<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":4596,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,1],"tags":[285,111,779,109,333,15,781,17],"yoast_head":"\nA Citizen\u2019s Arrest - Writers Rebel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-citizens-arrest\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Citizen\u2019s Arrest - Writers Rebel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  \u201cWhat if I got to jail?\u201d I thought, when Extinction Rebellion Denmark asked me to speak at the opening of its week of protest. Because this is the point we\u2019ve reached: the point where states come down more heavily on climate protest than on tax evasion. When he was jailed for his role in [...]Read More... from A Citizen\u2019s ArrestCarsten Jensen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-citizens-arrest\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Writers Rebel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/writersrebel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-12T07:00:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-12T08:14:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/22331E35-6FF2-4841-8D19-22142276D3C2-e1652185670840.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"914\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"544\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Katie Percival\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@XrRebel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@XrRebel\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Katie Percival\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-citizens-arrest\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-citizens-arrest\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Katie Percival\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#\/schema\/person\/58014cf4c5723b1bd41278b57688111c\"},\"headline\":\"A Citizen\u2019s ArrestCarsten Jensen\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-12T07:00:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-12T08:14:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-citizens-arrest\/\"},\"wordCount\":1208,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"activism\",\"arrest\",\"Carsten Jensen\",\"civil disobedience\",\"Denmark\",\"Extinction Rebellion\",\"police\",\"Protest\"],\"articleSection\":[\"read\",\"Uncategorized\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-citizens-arrest\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-citizens-arrest\/\",\"name\":\"A Citizen\u2019s Arrest - Writers Rebel\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-12T07:00:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-12T08:14:19+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-citizens-arrest\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-citizens-arrest\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-citizens-arrest\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A Citizen\u2019s ArrestCarsten Jensen\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/\",\"name\":\"Writers Rebel\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Writers Rebel\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-21-at-2.25.35-PM.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-21-at-2.25.35-PM.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":137,\"caption\":\"Writers Rebel\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/writersrebel\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/XrRebel\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#\/schema\/person\/58014cf4c5723b1bd41278b57688111c\",\"name\":\"Katie Percival\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.writersrebel.com\"],\"url\":\"#molongui-disabled-link\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A Citizen\u2019s Arrest - Writers Rebel","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-citizens-arrest\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"A Citizen\u2019s Arrest - Writers Rebel","og_description":"  \u201cWhat if I got to jail?\u201d I thought, when Extinction Rebellion Denmark asked me to speak at the opening of its week of protest. Because this is the point we\u2019ve reached: the point where states come down more heavily on climate protest than on tax evasion. When he was jailed for his role in [...]Read More... from A Citizen\u2019s ArrestCarsten Jensen","og_url":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-citizens-arrest\/","og_site_name":"Writers Rebel","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/writersrebel\/","article_published_time":"2022-05-12T07:00:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-05-12T08:14:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":914,"height":544,"url":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/22331E35-6FF2-4841-8D19-22142276D3C2-e1652185670840.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Katie Percival","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@XrRebel","twitter_site":"@XrRebel","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Katie Percival","Estimated reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-citizens-arrest\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-citizens-arrest\/"},"author":{"name":"Katie Percival","@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#\/schema\/person\/58014cf4c5723b1bd41278b57688111c"},"headline":"A Citizen\u2019s ArrestCarsten Jensen","datePublished":"2022-05-12T07:00:18+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-12T08:14:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-citizens-arrest\/"},"wordCount":1208,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["activism","arrest","Carsten Jensen","civil disobedience","Denmark","Extinction Rebellion","police","Protest"],"articleSection":["read","Uncategorized"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-citizens-arrest\/","url":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-citizens-arrest\/","name":"A Citizen\u2019s Arrest - Writers Rebel","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-05-12T07:00:18+00:00","dateModified":"2022-05-12T08:14:19+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-citizens-arrest\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-citizens-arrest\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/a-citizens-arrest\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A Citizen\u2019s ArrestCarsten Jensen"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/","name":"Writers Rebel","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#organization","name":"Writers Rebel","url":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-21-at-2.25.35-PM.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2020-07-21-at-2.25.35-PM.jpg","width":300,"height":137,"caption":"Writers Rebel"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/writersrebel\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/XrRebel"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/#\/schema\/person\/58014cf4c5723b1bd41278b57688111c","name":"Katie Percival","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.writersrebel.com"],"url":"#molongui-disabled-link"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writersrebel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/22331E35-6FF2-4841-8D19-22142276D3C2-e1652185670840.jpeg?fit=914%2C544&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4610"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4610"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4620,"href":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4610\/revisions\/4620"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writersrebel.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}