Brisbane CBD protest: Eric Serge Herbert tells court ‘nothing is going to stop me doing this again’
A protester who glued himself to a pedestrian crossing in Brisbane’s CBD could be the tip of the iceberg, as a prominent anti-Adani activist names the date for a total shutdown of the city.
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A KEY anti-Adani activist has threatened to “shut down Brisbane” in several weeks in an escalated protest against the contentious now-approved Carmichael megamine.
In a Twitter post, Galilee Blockade spokesman Ben Pennings said the environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion, as well as other “concerned citizens”, were planning a demonstration for August 6.
Mr Pennings urged people to take the day off to protest.
BREAKING: On Aug 6 #ExtinctionRebellion and other concerned citizens will shut down Brisbane. Get involved and/or take the day off. #qldpol #StopAdani
— Ben Pennings (@BenPennings) June 19, 2019
The call came as an “armchair revolutionary” who sent Brisbane’s CBD peak hour traffic into chaos on Tuesday when he and a friend glued themselves to Queen St was fined $550.
Eric Serge Herbert, who told a magistrate he does not work or study and lives off his parents, unnecessarily spent the night in police custody after refusing to sign standard bail documents.
He faced Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning, when he pleaded guilty to public nuisance and contravening a direction.
Herbert, who refused Legal Aid and represented himself, smiled and nodded as the prosecutor described how he and another woman had used super glue to stick themselves to a zebra crossing on Queen Street about 7.30am on Tuesday, sending the morning peak-hour rush into chaos.
“How long did it take them to unglue these people off the street?,” Magistrate Suzette Coates asked.
“Three hours,” the prosecutor responded.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Scott Pearson said police had given Herbert watch house bail after his arrest but he refused to sign the bail documents, meaning he spent the night in custody before this morning’s court appearance.
“Like a true armchair revolutionary he wasn’t going to sign it, is that right?,” Ms Coates asked.
“That’s very right,” Herbert interjected.
Herbert told the court he had been protesting the “planned genocide of life on planet earth”.
“I don’t really care what punishment I get because nothing is going to stop me from doing this again,” he said.
Herbert, who turns 20 next week and lives at his parents’ canal-front home at Pelican Waters, told media outside court that his parents are “very supportive” of him and he was looking forward to getting home from his night in the watch house to give them a hug.
As he emerged from the watch house, Herbert shouted “this is a rebellion”, saying he would repeat his actions again “whenever the next opportunity arises”.
“The Australian people must take serious action on climate now,” he said.
“The time has run out. The time is not for signing petitions, the time is for disrupting business as usual because business as usual equals death. This is an emergency.
“It invites the Australian public to stop business as usual and to force the government to act seriously instead of using petitions and yelling, that is not effective anymore.
“If we don’t act now, life on earth will be in jeopardy.”
His female co-accused is expected to face court next month.
No conviction was recorded.
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