US warns UK to stop arresting Palestine Action supporters

LONDON: UK authorities should stop arresting protesters showing support for banned group Palestine Action, the White House has warned.

The US undersecretary of state for diplomacy said arrests are doing “more harm than good” and are “censoring” free speech.

Sarah Rogers told news site Semafor: “I would have to look at each individual person and each proscribed organization. I think if you support an organization like Hamas, then depending upon whether you’re coordinating, there are all these standards that get applied.

“This Palestine Action group, I’ve seen it written about. I don’t know what it did. I think if you just merely stand up and say, ‘I support Palestine Action’, then unless you are really coordinating with some violent foreign terrorist, I think that censoring that speech does more harm than good.”

So far, more than 2,000 people have been arrested in the UK for showing support for the group.

It was banned in July 2025 after a series of break-ins nationwide, including at a facility owned by a defense manufacturer and a Royal Air Force base, during which military aircraft were damaged.

Last year, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was among those arrested while protesting for Palestine Action.

The group is challenging its ban, saying it should not be compared to terrorist organizations such as the Irish Republican Army, Daesh or Al-Qaeda.

The ban has been criticized by numerous bodies, with Amnesty International calling it a case of “problematic, overly broad and draconian restrictions on free speech.”

In Scotland, prosecutors have been offering to drop charges against some protesters in return for accepting a fine of £100 ($134.30).