What would you do to save the planet on a sunny afternoon in Britain? If you were a Just Stop Oil protester, you would aim for an object to spray orange paint. It’s their favorite color.
On June 19, the chosen target was the historic Stonehenge monument, a prehistoric megalithic structure on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England. Two activists were arrested for allegedly damaging some of the stones at the ancient site.
One of those arrested today for the crime is Birmingham’s Niamh Lynch, a 21-year-old Poundland version of Harry Potter and a student at Oxford University.
“Stonehenge on Winter Solstice is a celebration of the natural world. But look at what we have now! We all have the right to a life free from suffering, but the continued burning of oil, coal and gas is causing death and suffering on an incomparable scale,” the activist said in a video posted to the Just Stop Oil Twitter account, informing their cult following.
Her partner in crime was 73-year-old Rajan Naidu. Footage posted to social media showed the pair, both wearing white shirts with the slogan “Stop Oil”, approaching the monolith with buckets and spraying it with orange powder paint.
The action received media attention, but the public did not support the actions of Just Stop Oil, a group known for disrupting traffic and attacking art in the name of climate change.
Nina Power, senior editor of Compact Magazine, suggested that “anyone who thinks they should paint over a work of art or cultural heritage site should undergo mandatory psychoanalysis.”
Science fiction writer CR Walton suggests that disgruntled vandals should find more clever ways to make their point: “It’s a shame to deface our shared cultural heritage. Stonehenge belongs to everyone. It’s not a canvas for activism. A more effective way is to persuade people with compelling, logical arguments and data.”
And Madrid-based Spanish writer Alejandro Suárez Basso didn’t hold back on his words when it came to punishing the activists behind the Stonehenge damage.
““I hope those people rot in jail.”
The stones of Stonehenge (protected as an Ancient Monument and Archaeological Site) are home to several rare species of lichen, which are also protected species.
“Around noon we responded to a report of two suspects spraying orange paint on some rocks.
Police responded to the scene and arrested two people on suspicion of damaging the ancient monument.
“Enquiries are ongoing and we are working closely with English Heritage,” Wiltshire Police said in a statement earlier today.
Some Twitter users shared humorous suggestions for how police should deal with the two men caught spraying the gun.
Alan Horn, from Warrington, tweeted: “Let him brush it off”, while royalist Naomi Ripley left a lengthy reply to Naeem.
“Dear Naim, I personally would give you a toothbrush and make you stand there and brush everything off. You know, kid (and you are a kid), you have no right to deface that rock. You have an opinion and that’s fine, but you can’t use criminal damage to express your opinion. Grow up and, you know… get a job and do something useful for society. I hope your parents are ashamed of you, and I will.”
Twitter/X user Duncan McDonald expressed his views and why he does not support Just Stop Oil:
“Well, unless Naim walks naked from Oxford to Stonehenge, wearing nothing, I can’t help but think that everything used from the beginning to the end of his journey to throw orange poop all over the ancient monuments contained petroleum. The transportation, the clothes he wears, his glasses, his cell phone, and all the technology that records this destruction, even the packages that contain the orange poop and probably the orange poop itself. Until the idiots who support this stupid protest mechanism stop using petroleum themselves, I will not take them seriously at all. Only when they adopt a policy of not using anything that contains petroleum or using petroleum in any way in the manufacturing process will anyone take them seriously. Until then, they are just causing a very ironic nuisance. So come on, Just Stop Oil. Show the world how to live petroleum-free in every way. Come on, eat dog food, practice what you preach. Go for it. And bet as much money as you want, and once your uneducated, fist-pumping followers know what they have to give up, they will stop supporting your cause in an instant. So you Tell them the truth very frugally. Explain honestly that all technology uses oil in its manufacturing process. Whether it’s manufactured clothing, eyeglasses and contact lenses, medicines, food, books and paper, or the Internet, oil is involved somewhere.
This is not the first time that Just Stop Oil has angered the public instead of rallying people against global warming. The group successfully closed major roads such as the M25 and Dartford Crossing in November 2022. They have also disrupted major sporting events, including the Wimbledon tennis championships, and had supporters throw tomato soup on Vincent van Gogh’s painting “Sunflowers” at the National Gallery. In another controversial event, they damaged the case surrounding the Magna Carta at the British Library.
