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Extinction Rebellion climate change activist Ben Atkinson climbing Big Ben.
Extinction Rebellion climate change activist Ben Atkinson climbing Big Ben.AFP via Getty Images
Atkinson walking on Big Ben's scaffolding.
Atkinson walking on Big Ben's scaffolding.Reuters
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Police block off roads near Big Ben.
Police block off roads near Big Ben.AFP via Getty Images
Atkinson scaling Big Ben.
Atkinson scaling Big Ben.Reuters
Atkinson on Big Ben.
Atkinson on Big Ben.AP
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An environmental activist dressed as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson scaled London’s Big Ben on Friday, according to reports.

The daredevil, Ben Atkinson, clambered up the Westminster clock tower to hang two banners reading, “No pride on a dead planet” and “Citizens Assembly,” the Guardian reported.

The stunt was part of environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion’s “October rebellion.”

“Gone and done it…. Extinction Rebellion. Here to stay,” Atkinson wrote on Facebook along with photos showing him dressed in a blond wig and wearing a suit jacket and tie. “We got the declaration of climate emergency Last time. Now perhaps, please Boris, you’re struggling to navigate Brexit let alone work our way out of the sixth mass extinction event.”

Atkinson, 43, climbed up the scaffolding surrounding Big Ben, which is undergoing a four-year restoration project, without ropes and was first spotted around 3:30 p.m.

Other protesters cheered from Parliament Square when he reached the top, and then moved on toward Trafalgar Square, where they were expected to wrap up two weeks of rallies Friday evening.

A spokesman for Extinction Rebellion told the Guardian that Atkinson pulled off the feat to “highlight government inaction on the climate and ecological emergency.”

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