Just Stop Oil activists await jail time for Van Gogh and airport vandalism

The Just Stop Oil (JSO) activists who vandalized Vincent Van Gogh‘s Sunflowers (1888) painting with a can of soup are waiting to be sentenced, according to JSO press material.

The 22-year-old activists Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland,  “came within the width of a pane of glass of destroying one of the most valuable artworks in the world,” said Southwark Crown Court Judge Christopher Hehir.

It’s been 2 years since the incident and Holland and Plummer were remarkably only sentenced from visiting any museums or galleries, or for carrying glue, paint or adhesive materials in a public setting.

Holland and Plummer launched a can of tomato soup on the glass of the centuries-old painting, stating: “What is worth more, art or life? Is it worth more than food? Worth more than justice? Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting, or the protection of our planet and people?

“The cost of living crisis is part of the cost of oil crisis.”

Data source: Energy Institute – Statistical Review of World Energy (2024); The Shift Data Portal (2019)

Plummer and a third activist, Jane Touil, were imprisoned after painting Heathrow airport a few days ago. Just Stop Oil says they are working to defend them and with groups internationally to demand governments establish a fossil fuel treaty, to end the extraction and burning of oil, gas and coal by 2030.

Phoebe Plummer and Jane Touil appeared before Judge Neeta Minhasat at Westminster magistrates court this afternoon, after taking action at Terminal 5, Heathrow Airport yesterday. They have been remanded to HMP Bronzefield until August 28th at Isleworth Crown Court, where they will appear for a case management hearing.

Yesterday, the pair used fire extinguishers to spray water-based paint at the departure boards in the terminal. The Crown is alleging £50,000 worth of damages.

Plummer said at the hearing: “Sending peaceful protestors like me to prison isn’t going to prevent us from resisting. You’re upholding an abysmal system. And you’re doing that to maintain business as usual. You won’t be protected from the climate emergency.”

Speaking before the hearing Jane Touil said: “I have become increasingly terrified about climate breakdown and increasingly appalled by politicians’ failure to take appropriate action. Convinced that the most effective thing I could do as an ordinary person was to take direct action to highlight the catastrophic situation we’re in, I became a Just Stop Oil supporter.”

“I was arrested for the first time in April 2022 and have been arrested several times since. I spent a short time on remand in prison after climbing an M25 gantry in November 2022. I will continue to act on my conscience to protect life and to challenge the greed, corruption and cowardice that are killing people right now. I refuse to die for fossil fuels.”

The two must be “prepared in practical and emotional terms to go to prison” when their case is heard on September 27 by Judge Hehir, who has sentenced five JSO activists who committed similar offenses to a prison sentence of up to five years:

“The government continuously proves that they have little to no interest in attempting to curb climate change,” said Holland’s lawyer, adding: “They have proven that they have a great deal of interest in investing time and money into prosecuting young people trying to fight for the future of themselves and their children.”

Activists from various countries have targeted art and public spaces and private businesses over the past few years to raise awareness to the climate emergency. The tone was set by Greenpeace in the 70s when it started taking over whaling boats.

While it may seem heroic, Green Prophet does not support acts of violence and vandalism as a means to justify the end. Educating the next generation creatively might develop the next zero-energy super-fuel. Just Stop Oil activists are banging on an old drum that creates divisiveness and hate.

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