'High Alert': Heavily Armed Scots Police Arrest Man Outside COP26 Moments Before Obama Arrives
Scottish police on Monday made a dramatic arrest of a man in Glasgow about 15 minutes before former President Barack Obama was scheduled to arrive at the climate change summit being held there.
Multiple police officers responded to a location of the COP26 event and took at least one man into custody, according to the Daily Mail.
A statement from Police Scotland, the national police force, indicated that the man had already been arrested two days earlier and was free on bail, the Daily Mail reported.
Monday’s arrest was related to unspecified “firearms offences,” the statement said.
“A 43-year-old man was arrested on Argyle Street, Glasgow, on Saturday, 6 November, and charged with an alleged breach of the peace in relation to a COP26 event earlier this month,” the statement said, according to the Daily Mail.
“He appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Sunday, 7 November, and was released on bail.”
Armed police arrest man near COP26 venue in Glasgowhttps://t.co/cRUMTDa79T
— The National (@ScotNational) November 8, 2021
“The man was further arrested today on Breadallbane Street, Glasgow, in connection with alleged firearms offences following a search warrant being carried out at an address on Argyle Street and enquiries are ongoing,” the statement said.
Police said the firearms offenses are not linked to the summit and no terror-related charges have been filed, according to Scotsman.com.
The Daily Mail published what it said were witness accounts. Though the official statement described only one arrest, the witnesses described two men involved.
“It happened that quick. It was rapid. There was no messing about. Cars came from everywhere,” a woman identified as Eileen Gordon, 29, told the newspaper.
“Several cars surrounded the Volkswagen and it looked like one of the guys tried to make a run for it but they got a grip on him and pinned him to the ground. The driver was pulled out of the car and he had assault rifles aimed at him,” she said.
“There was the sound of cars screeching and lots of shouting of ‘armed police,’” another witness said, according to the Daily Mail. “Two men were dragged from a blue car and forced to the ground and surrounded by police. Some were disguised to hide their faces.”
Another witness, described as a construction worker, called the noise from the incident “deafening.”
“They were shouting and that probably disoriented the two men they arrested,” he said, according to the Daily Mail. “The amount of undercover police and weapons suggests this couldn’t wait.
“They searched the vehicle, opened [the trunk] and there was a large orange bag they were interested in. The car was left across the road before a truck came to impound it.”
Armed police arrest two men minutes before Barack Obama’s Cop26 speech https://t.co/ggIlZ9xrDo
— Will Metcalfe (@thewillmetcalfe) November 8, 2021
“They took a lot of interest in what was in the car and seemed to carry out a thorough search. You don’t get the armed police out unless it is something serious,” another witness said, according to the Daily Mail.
‘They opened [the trunk] and seemed quite shocked by what they found.”
Another man, described as a 24-year-old scaffolder, described the behavior of the suspects.
“The police have been on high alert for weeks. This looked very serious because they were armed and the men they arrested didn’t seem frightened. More determined than anything,” the witness said.
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