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 with 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, Wiltshire, England. Two activists were arrested for damaging some 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 Oxford University student.
“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. Videos posted on social media showed the pair, both wearing white shirts with the slogan “Stop Oil”, approaching the monolith holding a barrel and spraying 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 suggested that disgruntled vandals should find cleverer ways to get their opinions across. He said: “It is a shame to undermine our shared cultural heritage. Stonehenge belongs to everyone. It is not a canvas for activism. A more effective way is to persuade people with compelling logical arguments and data.”
And Alejandro Suárez Basso, a Spanish writer based in Madrid, did not hold back on his words as he expressed what he believed would be suitable for punishing the activists behind the damage to Stonehenge.
““I hope you rot in prison.”
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 reports that two suspects had sprayed orange paint on some rocks.
Police arrived at the scene and arrested two people on suspicion of damaging the ancient monument.
Our investigations are ongoing and we are working closely with English Heritage,” Wiltshire Police said in a statement released today.
Some Twitter users shared humorous suggestions about what police should do with the two men caught spraying.
Warrington-born Alan Horn wrote on Twitter: “Please let me clean it with a toothbrush,” while royalist Naomi Ripley wrote a lengthy reply to Naimh.
“Naimh, personally I would give you a toothbrush and stand there and brush everything. You see a child (and you are a child) you have no right to deface that stone. You have an opinion and that is fine but you cannot use criminal damage to express any opinion. Grow up and find out.. get a job. And do something that helps society. I hope your parents are ashamed of you. I would be too.”
Twitter/X user Duncan McDonald expressed his views and reasons for not supporting Just Stop Oil:
“Well, unless Naimh walked from Oxford to Stonehenge naked with nothing on her person, I think everything used from the beginning of the journey to the end of putting orange shit all over the ancient monument had something to do with oil. I can’t help but do it. This includes your means of transportation, the clothes you wear, your glasses, your cell phone and any technology that records this act of vandalism, even the package containing the orange poop and possibly the orange poop itself. Until these idiots who support this stupid protest mechanism stop using oil, I won’t take them seriously at all. Only when we live by a policy of not using anything containing petroleum and not using anything that uses petroleum in the manufacturing process can anyone take this seriously. Until then, all they cause is a particularly ironic annoyance. So join Just Stop Oil and show the world how to live without using oil in all aspects of your life. Come on, eat dog food, and practice what you preach. I challenge you to do so. And I bet your money you like it. Once your uneducated followers realize what they have to give up, they will immediately stop supporting your cause. So I am sure you are very economical with the truth about them. Be honest and explain that all technologies use oil in their manufacturing. These include manufactured clothing, eyeglasses and lenses, pharmaceuticals, food, books and paper, and the Internet. Somewhere along that line, oil is involved.
This isn’t the first time that Just Stop Oil has angered the public instead of getting people to fight global warming. The group closed major roads such as the M25 and Dartford Crossing in November 2022. It also disrupted major sporting events, including the Wimbledon tennis championships, and led supporters to throw tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh’s painting “Sunflowers” in the National Gallery. . In another controversial incident, they defaced the British Library’s Magna Carta case.
