- Eight Just Stop Oil activists arrested
- Gatwick Airport resumed normal operations
- Protest aimed at climate action urgency
Seven Just Stop Oil activists were observed sitting on the airport floor, their hands in lock-on devices. Gatwick Airport reports that the protestors were removed from the airport at approximately 9:15 a.m.
Eight Just Stop Oil protesters were arrested at Gatwick Airport after they used bags equipped with lock-on devices to demonstrate near a security barrier.
According to the protest group, seven activists entered the airport’s southern terminal at 8 a.m., and an image shows them sitting on the floor and blocking an entrance.
At roughly 9.15 a.m., a London Gatwick representative stated that the airport was “open and operating normally today,” adding that many protestors had been arrested and were being taken from the airport.
Sussex Police said in a statement that eight persons were arrested on suspicion of interfering with public infrastructure and that “a heightened police presence should be expected at this time.”
Just Stop Oil’s video also shows travelers trampling over the activists, who had their hands within the lock-on devices.
As long as political leaders fail to take swift and decisive action to protect our communities from the worst effects of climate breakdown, Stop Oil supporters, in collaboration with other international groups, will take the proportionate action required to generate much-needed political pressure, according to a statement.
This summer, regions critical to the fossil fuel economy will be designated as sites of civil resistance worldwide.
According to the group, the Gatwick demonstration is part of the international campaign Oil Kills, and 21 groups from 12 countries have already demonstrated at 17 airports.
According to Just Stop Oil, the multinational effort comes after the world experienced two warmest days last week.
It comes after two Just Stop Oil activists were convicted of criminal damage last week for dumping soup on Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting.
Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland, both 22, flung a can of Heinz tomato soup over the sculpture at London’s National Gallery in October 2022.
