KUALA LUMPUR – Two climate activists from Just Stop Oil were arrested today after spraying private jets with orange paint at UK’s Stansted Airport, where American celebrity Taylor Swift’s own aircraft is parked.
Jennifer Kowalski, 28, and Cole Macdonald, 22, did the act at around 5am local time. Swift’s jet had landed at the private airfield just hours before.
Kowalski, a former sustainability manager from Dumbarton, and Macdonald, from Brighton, were apprehended by police within minutes, according to foreign news agencies.
The pair had cut through the airport’s fence to access the airfield in northeast London.
“Officers were on the scene within minutes and detained two people. The airport and flights are operating as normal.
“They have been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and interference with the use or operation of national infrastructure,” said Essex police.
Earlier, Just Stop Oil posted a video on X showing an activist cutting through the fence and spraying paint over the jet.
The group demands an emergency treaty to end fossil fuels by 2030 and calls for the next UK government, following the July 4 general election, to commit to this goal.
In their statement, Just Stop Oil criticised world governments for allowing oil corporations to harm communities and warned of broader resistance if meaningful action is not taken.
“Failure to defend the people they represent will mean Just Stop Oil supporters, along with citizens from Austria, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, will join in resistance this summer,” the group said.
Swift was previously listed by British sustainability marketing firm Yard as one of the worst private jet CO2 emission offenders among celebrities.
Her jet flew 170 times in 2022, emitting 8,293.54 tonnes of CO2, or 1,184.8 times more than the average person.
Just Stop Oil also has a history of targeting cultural monuments. Yesterday, two protestors sprayed orange powder on Stonehenge, resulting in their arrest for damaging the prehistoric structure.
The group has also disrupted events at cultural institutions, including a Proms concert at the Royal Albert Hall, damaging a case around the Magna Carta at the British Library, and throwing tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers at the National Gallery. – June 20, 2024
Editor’s note, June 21:
Yesterday, Scoop published this story with the headline “Bad blood in UK: climate activists spray Taylor Swift’s jet with orange paint”.
Further reports clarified that Swift’s jet was parked at UK’s Stansted Airport where the incident took place, but it was not the jet being sprayed. The new information has been updated in this report.