Activists Take Back Power target supermarkets in mass shoplifting campaign for food banks
An activist group has claimed responsibility for a coordinated “mass theft campaign” in several UK cities.
Members said they were “releasing food boxes” from supermarkets to supply local food banks.
Take Back Power, which describes itself as a non-violent civil resistance group, said its supporters in London, Manchester, Exeter and Truro were “taking back food and supplies from supermarkets and redistributing them to local food banks” on Saturday.
The group defended its actions, saying that “what is legal is not necessarily indicative of what is moral or right” and that “given the scale of the crisis facing our country, it is necessary for ordinary people to take action.”
Activists reportedly entered stores and filled boxes with the words “These go to those in need.”
The group added that they then “left the stores without paying for the items and redistributed them to local food bank drop-off points.”
The Metropolitan Police said no arrests were made in London because store staff told officers “a member of the group later paid for the items”.
Take Back Power refused to pay for the items, but said the activists “technically set up a stall on the supermarket’s property”, meaning “no crime was committed because no items actually left the site”.
A spokesperson for Take Back Power said: “What is legal is not necessarily an indication of what is moral or right.
“I accept that it is against the law to go into shops and buy things without paying.
“But I think we need to look at the fact that the biggest problem in society is that significant numbers of people are having to go to food banks.”
The spokesman added: “This will not be the last of such actions.
“Given the magnitude of the crisis facing our country, I think it is necessary for ordinary people to take action.”
“While releasing the food boxes, two supporters set up a stall outside Sainsbury’s in the center of Lewisham to give the food back to the local community,” Take Back Power said in London.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “Officers spoke to staff at the store who told them a member of the group had subsequently paid for the items.
“We are in the process of reviewing CCTV and other evidence to confirm this.”
In Exeter, Take Back Power said five supporters buying five boxes of produce from Morrisons supermarket on Prince Charles Road were stopped by security who took two of the five boxes.
The remaining three boxes were “successfully released and taken to a local food bank drop-off point,” the group said.
In Manchester, the group said “three activists filled boxes with food from Tesco on Parrs Wood Lane in Didsbury” and then “redistributed the food to the foodbank drop-off point at a local Aldi”.
The statement added that two supporters loaded boxes from Sainsbury’s on Treyew Road in Truro and dropped off the items at the food bank drop-off point at the same store.
This comes after 15 activists from the group were arrested earlier this month on suspicion of planning a mass theft campaign.
Activists gathered at the Quaker Meeting House in Westminster on March 5 to take part in “non-violent direct action training”, the Metropolitan Police said.
Officers stopped the meeting and 15 people were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to steal.
Greater Manchester Police and Devon and Cornwall Police have been approached for comment.
Take Back Power claimed it was behind a demonstration in December in which apples were smashed and pudding was thrown at a display case containing the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London.
Days ago, activists from the group targeted the Ritz Hotel by emptying bags of fertilizer next to the Christmas tree.
The group called for a citizen-led parliament with the power to tax the wealthy.
