They not only filmed what they did, they displayed it to the world. Two ‘activists’ associated with ‘Just Stop Oil‘, an environmental group based in the UK, have had a rather unconventional way of showing their distaste for fossil fuels. Some may call their methods plain vandalism.
On June 20, two of these members cut through the wire fence at the Stansted airport in England and sneaked in. Using paint in repurposed fire extinguishers, they walked towards two private jets parked there and sprayed orange paint on them.
One of those involved, Cole MacDonald said in a video posted on X by the group, “I’m 22 and I’ve just sprayed 2 private jets orange. We need an international treaty against the burning of all oil, coal and gas. While people are starving, the elite and the rich fly thousands and thousands of feet in the air above us all. Billionaires are not untouchable.”
Some local reports in Britain claimed that singer-songwriter Taylor Swift’s private jet was parked there. The singer is currently touring the UK as a part of her Eras Tour.
This latest paint spraying incident comes just a day after Just Stop Oil activists spray-painted the Stonehenge monument. They claim the orange corn flour that was used would cause no damage to the monument and would wash away with the rain.
Two people were arrested for it, one of them is 73-year-old Rajan Naidu from Birmingham. In a video released on social media, he is heard saying that Stonehenge will not be impacted with their act but if the world doesn’t work to save the biosphere, there will be nothing left on the planet.
The group wants nations to move away from fossil fuels. It wants the British government to commit to end extraction and phase out fossil fuels by 2030.
Locals have called the stunt a desecration of the monument that many in Britain consider spiritual and sacred. Tim Daw is a local volunteer who said, “Just Stop Oil describes them (Stonehenge) as ‘inert stones,’ but for many of the people here, these stones are much more than that. They are sacred, they are revered, they are religious objects. Once something like that has been desecrated, it just doesn’t feel the same. You know, in your heart, that it’s changed.”
There’s also the worry of the damage the vandalism may have caused the heritage monument. Archeologist Dr Amanda Chatburn said, “The sarsens (stones), although they look solid, they’re actually porous. And more to the point, there’s a very rare colony of lichen on them, and we just don’t know what this substance is going to do to both of them.”
Stonehenge is one of the most visited sites in the UK. Just Stop Oil has used such disruptive practices to gain prominence. Before this, they have also thrown soup at a Van Gogh painting, besides blocking roads and disrupting social and cultural events.
