Activists sentenced, attack van Gogh paintings in protest

Climate activists do whatever they can to draw public attention to the issues Earth is facing. Blocking highways, streets, and airports is often used because it moves people. Destroying monuments, such as paintings, sculptures, and buildings, is also popular. Some actions only provoke momentary outrage, but sometimes activists end up in court as defendants in various cases.

In October 2022, activists from the Just Stop Oil group, Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland, went to the British National Gallery located at Trafalgar Square. The women had one goal: to pour soup on Vincent van Gogh's painting "Sunflowers". The activists managed to accomplish their mission, and the painting survived only thanks to the glass protecting it. During the attack, the frame of the painting was damaged. The damages were estimated to be around £10,000, approximately $17,270 CAD.

On September 27, 2024, at the Crown Court in Southwark, a verdict was rendered sentencing the Just Stop Oil activists to prison. 23-year-old Phoebe Plummer will spend two years and three months in prison. 22-year-old Anna Holland was sentenced to 20 months in prison. During the reading of the verdict, Judge Christopher Hehir told them: "You had no right to do what you did to 'Sunflowers,' and your arrogance in thinking otherwise deserves the harshest condemnation. You were both a hair's breadth away from irreversibly damaging or even destroying this priceless treasure, and that must be reflected in the penalties meted out."

The judge also added: "Section 63 of the Penal Code requires me to consider not only the damage that was caused by your crime but also the damage that it could predictably have caused. For these reasons, this predictable damage is incalculable. Your crime is serious enough that the only appropriate penalties are prison sentences."

During the trial, Phoebe Plummer delivered a speech in which she defended her actions. The activist said, among other things: "On October 14, 2022, and in November 2023, I made decisions to take actions that I knew would probably lead to my arrest and prosecution. I made these decisions because I believe that peaceful civil resistance is the best, if not the only tool people have to bring about the rapid changes that are necessary to protect life from the growing climate crisis and from political decisions that add fuel to the fire and doom us all to a catastrophic future. Of course, there are reasons why my life and the lives of those I love would be easier without receiving prison sentences today, but I do not intend to dwell on those reasons. My choice today is to accept the sentences with a smile, knowing I have found peace in what I can do to defend countless millions of innocent people suffering and dying. I chose peaceful disruption of an unjust, unfair, and murderous system."

Shortly after the verdict, on Friday, September 27, 2024, at 2:30 PM EDT, Just Stop Oil activists visited the National Gallery again. This time, three people entered the museum and attacked two van Gogh paintings. After dousing the works with soup, one of the activists gave a speech, in which she said: "Future generations will recognize these prisoners of conscience as standing on the right side of history."

71-year-old activist Ludi Simpson, who participated in the action, told "The Guardian": "We will be accountable for our actions and will face the full force of the law. When will the directors of fuel companies and the politicians they have bought be held accountable for the harm they do to every living creature?"