Just Stop Oil is an environmental activists group based in the United Kingdom. The group’s main goal is to persuade the UK government to halt production of new fossil fuels. They hold 20 to 30 meetings per week so that anyone has an opportunity to let their voice be heard.
On Oct. 14, two Just Stop Oil protesters went to London’s National Gallery and threw a can of tomato soup at Vincent Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” painting. They immediately put glue on their hands and placed them on the wall underneath the painting. Multiple sources heard the protesters ask the gathering crowd questions like, “Is it worth more than food?” They continued to question if the crowd valued the art work more than the protection of people and the planet.
Two more protesters joined in the action on Oct. 23. These protests were very similar, but this time it was at the Museum Barberini in Potsdam. They threw liquified mashed potatoes at Claude Monet’s “Haystacks” and glued their hands to the wall.
Both museums have claimed that the paintings are safe. Both pieces were behind protective glass that is there for wandering hands and now flying liquids. Just Stop Oil does not just go after paintings. On Oct. 22, a group of Just Stop Oil campaigners has made public protests recently. They stop traffic by sitting in the middle of the road in London with signs that have their logo of “Just Stop Oil.”
The Metropolitan police said that the officers on the scene saw 16 Just Stop Oil protesters sit on the road, with four of them were locked to each other while sitting and four were glued to the pavement. They later stated that traffic was stopped on both sides of the road. Their most recent attack, on Oct. 23, was against the wax figure of the newly crowned King Charles III. The two protestors went to Madame Tussauds in London and threw a cake in the face of King Charles waxwork.
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