Climate activist Greta Thunberg goes on trial in London for blocking oil and gas conference

By BRIAN MELLEY
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Climate activist Greta Thunberg is on trial for protesting outside a major oil and gas industry conference in London last year. The 21-year-old Swedish environmental activist went on trial Thursday with four other protesters on a charge of violating a public order. She was among more than two dozen protesters arrested on Oct. 17 after blocking access to a hotel during the Energy Intelligence Forum. The event was attended by some of the industry’s top executives. Thunberg and the others are charged with breaching a section of the Public Order Act that allows police to impose limits on public assemblies. She and four Fossil Free London protesters have pleaded not guilty in Westminster Magistrates’ Court. The trial will last two days.