(London) After the prehistoric site of Stonehenge, environmental group Just Stop Oil targeted private jets on the tarmac of Stansted International Airport near London in the hope of finding Taylor Swift's plane, with controversial tactics.
Around 5 a.m. (12 a.m. Eastern time), two activists, aged 22 and 28, unobstructedly cut through a fence at the busy airport northeast of the British capital and entered the area where several private jets are parked.
As they entered, activists sprayed orange paint-filled bombs at two planes before being arrested.
Just Stop Oil said one of the planes parked in the area was the plane of US star Taylor Swift, who is due to perform in London on Friday and later this week and has been criticized for traveling on a private jet.
Photo by Steve Marcus, Reuters Archives
Taylor Swift
But if his plane had been at the airport hours before, according to Just Stop Oil, he was not there at the time of the intrusion, police said.
Two years ago, before the start of his monumental “Eras” tour, marketing agency Yard classified him as the “most polluting celebrity of the year”, with 170 thefts in seven months.
Essex Police said the activists were arrested within minutes of entering the site. The airport and flights are operating as usual.
They are suspected of “criminal damage and obstruction of the use or operation of national infrastructure,” it said in its press release.
In a press release from Just Stop Oil, one of the activists arrested on Thursday accused them of being “millionaires who live lavishly and fly on private jets without worrying about living conditions”. Climate crisis.
“Passengers using private jets are responsible for 14 times more CO emissions2 than a commercial airline,” the environmental group said.
No “visible” damage
Just Stop Oil aims to end the exploitation of fossil fuels by 2030. For its spectacular and controversial activities, especially in museums, during sporting events or during performances, its activists are sentenced to prison terms.
On Thursday, two octogenarians were due to appear in a London court for vandalizing a display case in May protecting a copy of Magna Carta, the founding text of modern democracy, on display at the British Library in London.
They were charged with “criminal damage” and released on bail pending this trial.
On Wednesday, activists sprayed paint made from cornstarch on the monoliths of Stonehenge, a prehistoric site known for standing stones that form a series of mysterious circles.
Photographic Handbook, Agence France-Presse
Wiltshire police arrested two men “on suspicion of vandalizing the monument” and the move was condemned by British politicians across the spectrum, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Labor rival Keir Starmer.
The outgoing Conservative government, with strong winds against Just Stop Oil's stabbing actions, has tightened the law governing the right to protest in recent years in an attempt to curb these activists' actions, without much success.
The director of the English Heritage Society, which is responsible for managing the site, told the BBC on Thursday that there was “no visible damage” to the monoliths, which were cleaned directly after the activists' action.
The latter is “difficult to understand and we are deeply saddened by this vandalism,” said Nick Merriman. He also noted that the site will be open to the public from Thursday and Friday for the solstice.
The famous ensemble aligns with the axis of the sun during the solstices, and the event attracts thousands of curious people and new druids every year on June 21.
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