All posts tagged: climate activism

Jail Sentence Nixed for Activists Who Glued Themselves to Vermeer Work

Jail Sentence Nixed for Activists Who Glued Themselves to Vermeer Work

Published by skeptic

A Dutch court of appeals has decided that a small group of climate activists who received two month in jail for gluing themselves to Johannes Vermeer‘s The Girl with the Pearl Earring no longer need to serve their sentence. According to CNN, the court said that the three activists, who are part of the protest group Just Stop Oil Belgium, spent 23 days in holding cells leading up to the trial. The court ruled that additional prison time “would have been excessive.” The court added that doling out a severe punishment might have a “chilling effect,” and that it wanted to ensure that those who want to peacefully protest or exercise their right to freedom of expression aren’t discouraged. Related Articles The attack on Vermeer’s most recognizable painting happened in October 2022, at the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague. One man glued his bald head to the painting, which his covered by a protective glass, before a second man covered him in tomato soup. The second man then glued his own hand to the wall next to the painting.  A …

Botticelli’s Birth of Venus Targeted by Climate Activists in Florence

Botticelli’s Birth of Venus Targeted by Climate Activists in Florence

Published by skeptic

Two climate activists affixed images of environmental destruction to the glass panel protecting Botticelli’s fifteenth century masterpiece The Birth of Venus at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. The activists were from the group Last Generation, a national student-led alliance that selected its name because they consider themselves to be the last generation before reaching a tipping point in the earth’s climate system. The photos they overlaid on The Birth of Venus depicted a flooded Tuscan town. “The government continues to pretend that fields did not burn in January, that water will not be a problem this summer, that houses destroyed by floods are accidental events and not caused by human choices,” one of the protestors stated. “And instead of dealing with these real problems, it makes absurd laws”. Related Articles They were subsequently removed from the gallery and taken to a police station, reported France 24. In November, a judge in Florence ruled that two activists who glued their hands to the glass protecting another Boticelli canvas in the Uffizi in 2022 were not guilty …

Climate activist Greta Thunberg defied police at protest, court hears

Climate activist Greta Thunberg defied police at protest, court hears

Published by skeptic

“MIXED MESSAGES” Supporters were already gathered outside court on Thursday when Thunberg arrived around an hour before the 10.00am start of her trial. They held large yellow signs reading “fossil free London” and “climate protest is not a crime” as Thunberg, wearing a grey coat, and her fellow defendants made their way through the crowd. Maja Darlington, campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said the activists were on trial “for peacefully protesting” while oil executives were “celebrating making billions from selling climate-wrecking fossil fuels”. “The prosecution of Greta and other peaceful protesters reflects a government that cares more about bolstering the profits of oil bosses than fighting for a liveable future for all of us,” she added. The Conservative government’s reversals on its pledges to combat climate change have angered campaigners. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has postponed a ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars and announced plans to grant new licences to drill for oil and gas in the North Sea. The British electorate, which votes in a general election this year, is facing …

22 Members of Climate Activist Group Futuro Vegetal Arrested in Spain

22 Members of Climate Activist Group Futuro Vegetal Arrested in Spain

Published by skeptic

Spanish authorities have arrested a group of climate activists accused of staging a slew of actions at art museums across Europe. Per police statements, the 22 individuals arrested were linked to 65 climate demonstrations, including halting traffic and flinging paint and other viscous substances at federal property. A police spokesman told the AFP that the suspects belong to Spanish activist group Futuro Vegetal, who in November 2022 made headlines when two of its members glued their hands to the frames of two paintings by Francisco Goya at Madrid’s Prado Museum. Related Articles The Prado protest did not result in lasting damage to the 18th century works—The Naked Maja and The Clothed Maja—but the protestors defaced the wall between the two paintings with “+1.5°C,” a reference to the Paris Agreement goal of keeping global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius. In recent years, environmental activists have staged increasingly brazen stunts at art museums worldwide in a bid to bring attention to the climate crisis. This June, two protestors were arrested in Stockholm after they splashed “some …

Climate activists declare war on ‘gas guzzler’ cars… by vandalising an electric Tesla

Climate activists declare war on ‘gas guzzler’ cars… by vandalising an electric Tesla

Published by Sam

The Tyre Extinguishers have previously said they want to “strike fear” into owners of “gas guzzling” SUVs – REUTERS Environmental activists who have declared war on “gas guzzler” cars have vandalised an electric-powered vehicle. The controversial group, who call themselves the Tyre Extinguishers, targeted a Tesla car in Clifton, Bristol. The owner was out walking his dog while the group deflated his tyres and left their signature leaflet on the windscreen, which states: “Your gas guzzler kills.” It does not mark the first time the activists have seemingly erroneously deflated the tyres of electric vehicles, with a similar incident on a Tesla in the London area of Notting Hill last year. ‘Strike fear’ The Tyre Extinguishers have previously said they want to “strike fear” into owners of “gas guzzling” SUVs. The owner of the all-electric environmentally friendly Tesla said the incident had “something comical about it” but that he still felt “slightly violated”. He told the BBC: “It’s ironic, because I was trying to do the right thing by buying an electric car. It’s ridiculous …