2 climate activists were arrested after spraying orange paint on Stonehenge
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Two climate activists have been arrested at Stonehenge in England after spraying orange paint on the well-known historic landmark.
The group Just Stop Oil took credit for the Wednesday action, which they said was a call on the United Kingdom to stop the use of fossil fuels by 2030.
“Continuing to burn coal, oil and gas will result in the death of millions. We have to come together to defend humanity or we risk everything,” Just Stop Oil said in a press release.
The group said the orange cornflour used on the monument would wash away in the rain.
It identified the two activists responsible as University of Oxford student Niamh Lynch, 21, and Birmingham resident Rajan Naidu, 73.
The Wiltshire Police confirmed that officers arrested two people on suspicion of damaging Stonehenge.
The action took place just one day before the summer solstice — the longest day of the year — when thousands of people are expected to descend upon the historic monument.
English Heritage, the group that manages Stonehenge, said in a post on X that the site remains open. It called the incident “extremely upsetting” and said its curators were assessing the extent of any damage.
In its press release, Just Stop Oil said it wouldn’t be enough for the UK to stop any future oil and gas licenses, but rather urged the government to sign a legally binding treaty barring it from extracting and burning oil, gas and coal by the year 2030.
UK political leaders were quick to condemn the demonstration.
In a post on X, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said : “Just Stop Oil are a disgrace.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer, who is running against Sunak in the upcoming election, said the damage done to Stonehenge was “outrageous.” Starmer called Just Stop Oil “pathetic” and said those responsible for the action “must face the full force of the law.”
It’s the latest public protest initiated by activists with Just Stop Oil, whose members have also interrupted tennis matches at Wimbledon, disrupted the London pride parade and defaced classic works of art.
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Dear Niamh and Rajan,
Piss off, you are not helping.
If it helps, it wasn't actually paint, from the article I read. It was an orange powder, easy to clean off.
It better be.
The same that Trump wears?
So the perps claim.
From the article.................
Maybe they were MAGA protestors...
Apparently, logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead with some.
And the White Knight is talking backwards
And the Red Queen's off with her head
One of the issues I read about the clean up, is that there is supposedly some form of endangered lichen on the stones, so care has to be used.
They are actually making it worse.
Yeah, I can't figure out the reasoning, which seems to be "Let's do something that makes people hate us so much they'll join our cause!".
Assholes
Lock them up and throw away the key.
Morning...I am all for spraying their house inside and out with the same stuff..
No worries it should wash of when it rains...
It takes only a tiny minority of extremists to tarnish the efforts of a large group. People often over-generalize resulting in errant stereotypes that tend to persist.
Do these nutcases not see they are hurting the cause?
I don't think they do.
Also, what is the symbolism here? In what way is Stonehenge harming the climate?
There is no symbolism. It is simply a statement that these climate activists are not going to allow life as usual until their demands are met. They see themselves as martyrs and heroes, hoping to inspire others to the same sorts of acts, which include not simply things like this or defacing art, but blocking traffic, glueing themselves to whatever, interrupting sporting events and so on. They're all the same thing.
And that is why it is so counter-productive. At least the tree-lovers, as an example, chained themselves to trees. One could see the symbolism and they did not randomly deface art and history.
Obnoxious / destructive behavior — especially that which seems entirely random — is counter-productive.