Richard Barnard

Richard Barnard  (political activist)
Founder of	Palestine Action
Member of	Palestine Action

Richard Barnard is a pro-Palestinian political activist who co-founded Palestine Action in July 2020.

Arrest

On 3 May 2023, Skwawkbox reported:

Armed police have used ‘intimidation and blanket detention’ to break up a peaceful protest at the Leicester factory of Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems. According to organisers Palestine Action (PA), Leicestershire police used indiscriminate arrest – detaining even bystanders – despite the protest passing peacefully since it began on Monday.

And PA’s co-founders were arrested despite not being at the demo – or even in Leicestershire. A PA statement explains further:

An unprecedented 33 arrests were made yesterday at the site of the Palestine Action siege, as Leicestershire Police took disproportionate measures using unjustifiable force against individuals who had turned out in opposition to Israel’s arms trade. The siege continues into its third day, a mass mobilisation against the UAV Tactical Systems drone factory in Leicester – owned by Israel’s largest weapons company, Elbit Systems.

Leicestershire Police, having witnessed the speeches, workshops, dance, and community mobilisation that have characterised The Siege thus far, stepped in with all of the force at their disposal to intimidate and detain those standing against Elbit. Throughout yesterday, arrests were made indiscriminately, without evidence and with the clear motivation to repress the growing mobilisation. Police, who arrived with armed units yesterday, have deployed tactics including kettling, property seizure, breaking and entering cars, the raiding of homes and the dismantling of encampments. Of the 33 arrested, the majority were taken to Euston Street station, released on bail overnight.

Police arrested a score of those who had populated a woodland camp adjacent to the site, along with four who had locked-on to each other in the road, and supporters and bystanders. As reported by Leicester Mercury, the action throughout Monday, where 250 people had assembled, had “passed peacefully”, with Police were not offering any reason for their encroachment into the camp.

The arrests included two co-founders of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori and Richard Barnard, taken into custody for reasons as of yet unclear, arrested in a different jurisdiction and transferred to Leicester early this morning. The pair’s arrest, unconnected to any events at the site of the factory, demonstrate that the police strategy is one of intimidation and blanket detention.

The activist network Palestine Action have committed to mobilising against UAV Tactical Systems, and this mass action will persist regardless of underhand, unjustified aggression that the police undertake on behalf of Elbit Systems. And the community is onside: after the police seized the tents, blankets, food and possessions of those camped at the site, the Leicester community turned up to donate blankets, sleeping bags, food and other necessities that the police had deprived protestors of. Joining the site of the siege last night for Janazah Salah (funeral prayers) in solidarity with hunger striker Khader Adnan, Leicester residents have made clear that Israel’s war machine is not welcome on their streets.

Last night’s bombing raids on Gaza, along with the death-in-unlawful-custody of Adnan, underscore the purpose of the siege: ridding Leicester of the stain of complicity in Israel’s crimes. A Palestine Action spokesperson has stated:

“The Siege of UAV Tactical Systems has so far proved successful: successful in laying bare the reality of police ‘protection’ – their aggressive tactics and arbitrary arrests being used to protect the interests and reputation of a murderous weapons company. The success also lies in the response we have seen: people stand defiant in the face of police repression, a community unifying in opposition to Israel’s arms trade. As stated, we intend to see UAV Tactical Systems shut down.”

In Leicester and across Elbit’s other 7 remaining sites in Britain, military technologies are manufactured for export directly to Israel. The UAV Tactical Systems site regularly sends drones and drone technologies to Israel, where Elbit’s drone products brutally enforce the Israeli occupation of Palestine. UAV Tactical Systems’ flagship drone, the Watchkeeper, has been used by the British military in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the English Channel – but is itself modelled on the notorious and deadly Hermes drone, after the latter was ‘battle-tested’ on Palestinians. Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons company, supplies 85% of Israel’s drones, and 85% of its land based military equipment. Its products, including the Hermes, have been linked to documented atrocities by the State of Israel.

Trial

Richard Barnard was one of the Elbit Eight, all members of Palestine Action, who went on trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Monday 13 November 2023. The Elbit Eight were fighting charges of conspiracy to commit criminal damage, burglary, and – for some – blackmail.

Convicted on one count

On 10 January 2024, Huda Ammori reported:

"In total, we were acquitted on 13 counts against us.

"Richard Barnard was convicted on one count of criminal damage against Elbit’s Oldham factory after he said he didn’t believe Elbit, who owned that factory, would consent.

"Shortly after delivering the guilty verdict, the jury asked if it could be changed – it could not. The jury could not come to a majority decision on the rest of the counts against us, leaving the prosecution to decide on whether they will retrial us on those charges.

"Ultimately, we walked in facing varying amounts of prison time and received none. I was told if convicted on all the charges facing me I would be looking at a 4-5 year prison sentence.

"Yet we all walked out as free people, and two of the eight were acquitted of all charges. An incredible result when facing the British state’s wrath for having stood on the right side of history."

Re-arrested

On 29 August 2024, Richard Barnard was re-arrested and charged with "expressing an opinion that is supportive of a proscribed organisation contrary to Section 12 (1A) of the Terrorism Act 2000", and of encouraging criminal damage. The charges stem from an investigation by the specialised Counter Terrorism Policing North West (CTPNW) unit into a demonstration held on 8 October 2023 in Manchester after Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel. He also faces an additional charge of encouraging criminal damage for a speech he delivered in Bradford.

Barnard is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court, London, on 18 September 2024 for his plea hearing.

 

Related Documents

Title	Type	Publication date	Author(s)	Description
Document:Activism on trial: The Elbit Eight and Palestine solidarity	Article	16 November 2023	Fatimah Yasmin Ahmed	Eight activists are on trial this week at London’s Snaresbrook Crown Court for disrupting a lethal link in Israel’s military supply chain within the UK. Over the next six weeks, the Elbit Eight will fight in court to prove that Elbit Systems is guilty, and they are not.
Document:Eight activists go on trial for disrupting Israel’s weapons trade	Article	10 November 2023	Mohamed Elmaazi	The trial of the Elbit Eight takes place at a time when Israel is waging a genocidal war against Gaza – using weapons from Elbit Systems and several other British firms.
Document:Tracker was added to Palestine Action co-founder's phone	blog post	29 August 2024		“A tracker was found in a phone returned to us after myself and Richard Barnard were arrested for being co-founders of Palestine Action, a direct action network against Israeli weapons factories. Never use technology the police have touched. Thankfully we never did.”

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