Justifying the bill, the British government claims that as a result of Extinction Rebellion’s 2019 protests “some of London’s busiest areas were brought to a standstill for several days” and cost the police £37 million. It also cited the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests where it claimed “172 Metropolitan Police Service officers were assaulted by a violent minority”. The Kill the Bill Coalition was launched at the end of March, and released a statement saying the bill “is a dangerous and unnecessary piece of legislation that endangers the rights and safety of every single one of us … We stand united and reject attempts to divide our movement into “good” and “bad” protestors.”