According to a source from within the Met, a man tried to conduct a “waterborne reconnaissance mission” with a Go-Pro camera attached to his head as he paddled on a float in the no-go area of the River Thames outside the Houses of Parliament.
Police suspected that the man, believed to be a member of either Extinction Rebellion or a similar extreme green agenda group, was filming to plan out a route for his fellow-travellers to clandestinely reach Westminster Hall to perform a stunt on Monday during the funeral for the late British monarch, the
Daily Mail reports.
The breach in security occurred just metres away from Westminster Hall, where the Queen’s body is currently lying in state for the public to pay their final respects. It also came just one day before King Charles III gave his first address to both Houses of Parliament in the same 900-year-old building.
Police were alerted by a member of the public, who believed that there was a body floating in the river. When they arrived on the scene, they found the man climbing the scaffolding surrounding the building. He was taken in for questioning, with police initially concerned that it might have been a terrorist-related incident, but it was later determined that he was most likely a green activist. The man claimed that he was merely swimming for a charity event.