Two Just Stop Oil activists were arrested at London’s Heathrow airport on Tuesday, after they sprayed orange paint over passenger information screens and other airport fixtures, police have confirmed.
The group said the protest was part of a campaign to disrupt airports during the summer holidays as part of its drive to stop the use of fossil fuels by 2030.
One of the pair was Phoebe Plummer, out on conditional bail after a Southwark judge last week found her guilty of causing criminal damage to Vincent van Gogh’s iconic ‘Sunflowers’ painting in a 2022 stunt. The bail conditions banned her from carrying paint, glue or any adhesive substance in a public place, the BBC wrote last week.
Footage shared on the Just Stop Oil account on X (formerly Twitter) appears to show two activists spraying orange paint on passenger information screens, windows and floors of the airport, using pressurized paint from two containers resembling fire extinguishers.
On their website, the movement claimed the stunt was part of a wider international ‘Oil Kills’ push by them and other activist groups to curb the use of fossil fuels by the end of the decade.
“21 groups across 12 countries have taken action at 18 airports so far,” the organization wrote. According to media reports, during those incidents dozens of flights had to be cancelled or diverted at airports across Europe as activists glued themselves to the landings strips and pulled other stunts.
Last week, ten activists from Just Stop Oil were arrested outside Heathrow and charged with “conspiring to interfere with key national infrastructure,” London’s Metropolitan Police said on X. “Eight were remanded in custody with two released on bail,” they added.
This latest stunt from Just Stop Oil comes two weeks after two activists from the group vandalized the prehistoric Stonehenge landmark in southwest England, using orange paint. The group's other stunts have included throwing soup at priceless works of art, and gluing themselves to paintings.