Just Stop Oil protesters have been arrested after smashing the glass covering a Diego Velázquez painting at the National Gallery in London, as police detained dozens of others who blocked Whitehall.
Two activists targeted the glass on the Rokeby Venus painting with safety hammers before they were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.
The artwork, which was painted by Velázquez in the 1600s, was slashed by the suffragette Mary Richardson in 1914. One of those involved on Monday said: “Women did not get the vote by voting; it is time for deeds not words.”
The Metropolitan police said at least 40 activists who were “slow marching” in Whitehall were also detained and that the road was clear after traffic was stopped for a brief period.
Either way they’re dumb. An awareness campaign for climate change isn’t going to spur anyone to action. Lack of awareness isn’t the issue because everyone knows about “climate change”. The issue is that half the people who know about it don’t believe in it and the people with the means to counter it don’t care because they think it’s a poor people problem that their wealth and status protects them from.
All these protesters are doing is being a nuisance, which is more likely to turn people on the fence away from their cause and make deniers double down even harder.
I hear this a lot, but what does it practically mean? As in, how will fence-sitters act differently in a way that will harm the world more? Genuine question.