Eight activists from the Take Back Power group face criminal damage charges following protests at the Tower of London and The Ritz hotel. The group, which campaigns under the slogan ‘tax the rich to fix Britain,’ targets inequality. Four individuals face charges related to the hotel incident, four to the Tower of London event, and a ninth suspect for organized shoplifting. Court appearances are scheduled over the next two weeks.
Manure Protest at The Ritz
On December 3, Ellen Redwood-Brown, 23, an NHS worker; Tom Barber, 66, a former doctor; Toby Ellwood, 21; and Tjalle Rumley, 26, allegedly dumped bags of manure under the Christmas tree in The Ritz lobby on Piccadilly. The act left a pile of foul material on the luxury carpet before security intervened. Protesters sat outside, displaying flags reading ‘Inequality is sh**, tax the rich.’
Redwood-Brown declared at the scene: ‘The billionaires, corporations, and corrupt politicians running Britain don’t care about us.’ Barber added: ‘Power is concentrated in the hands of a small group of obscenely wealthy and ruthless individuals. They are hell-bent on enriching themselves, forcing the gap between the haves and the have-nots ever wider.’
Redwood-Brown and Barber appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday, while Ellwood and Rumley attend on April 29.
Crown Jewels Dessert Attack
Three days later, on December 6, Fatima Ali, 19; Miriam Cranch, 22; Mack Preston, 22; and Matthew Cooper, 50, allegedly smeared apple crumble and custard on the glass case protecting the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London. They unveiled a sign stating: ‘Democracy has crumbled – tax the rich.’
Video footage captures one activist slamming a foil tray of crumble against the case guarding the Imperial State Crown, followed by another pouring yellow custard. Demonstrators revealed T-shirts printed with ‘Take Back Power.’ One shouted: ‘Britain is broken. We’ve come here to the jewels of the nation to take back power. Join us at takebackpower.net.’
The targeted case houses the Imperial State Crown, worn by the monarch at coronations and state events, including King Charles’s 2023 ceremony and atop Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin during her lying-in-state and funeral.
Ali, Cranch, Preston, and Cooper face Westminster Magistrates’ Court on April 27.
Additional Charge
David Kilroy, 66, faces theft charges over an alleged organized shoplifting at a Sainsbury’s in Lewisham on March 14. He appears at Bexley Magistrates’ Court on April 29.
Group Statements
A Take Back Power spokesperson commented after the Ritz event: ‘The super-rich have more than doubled their wealth since the pandemic, while this Christmas, a third of UK children suffer and grow up in poverty. It’s time ordinary people – those most affected by inequality – get a say in deciding how to tax wealth through a legally binding citizen’s assembly – a House of the People.’
Following the Tower of London action, the group stated: ‘Since 2011, the poorest 10 per cent of households have paid a combined tax rate of 44 per cent on their income and wealth gains, while the richest paid 22 per cent. Our political class serves the super-rich and does not care about working people. That’s why we must demand real democracy, with ordinary people at the heart of decision making, through a citizen-led assembly that has the power to tax the rich.’
