Activists arrested and planes spray painted at Taylor Swift airfield

Lina PortmanJune 21, 2024

0 3 minutes read

Activists arrested and planes spray painted at Taylor Swift airfield

Members of the environmental group 'Just Stop Oil' spray orange paint on private jets at Stansted Private Airfield.

Just stop oil

Two environmental activists were arrested after breaking into a private airfield outside London, where Taylor Swift's plane had landed hours earlier, and spray-painting several private jets orange, in the part of a call to end the use of fossil fuels by the end of the decade. .

Jennifer Kowalski, 28, and Cole Macdonald, 22, members of Just Stop Oil, cut a metal fence surrounding Stansted Private Airfield at 5 a.m. local time on Thursday, then targeted the planes, using a orange paint similar to that seen during the group's protest campaign. Wednesday at Stonehenge, Britain's prehistoric monument. Just Stop Oil said the paint was cornflower and would come off.

Kowalski and Macdonald were later arrested, Essex County police said. The Guardian in a press release: “The police were on scene within minutes and arrested two people. The airport and flights are operating normally. A 22-year-old woman from Brighton and a 28-year-old woman from Dumbarton were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and interfering with the use or operation of national infrastructure.

Just Stop Oil is a coalition of groups working together to demand that the UK government work with other countries to agree to stop the extraction and burning of oil, gas and coal by 2030. The organization has posted a video of the protest action on the social media platform X. (formerly known as Twitter), pointing out that Swift's recently controversial plane had landed there earlier in the day.

“JUST STOP OIL-PAINTING PRIVATE JETS HOURS AFTER TAYLOR SWIFT LANDS Jennifer and Cole cut the fence at the Stansted private airfield where @taylorswift13's jet is parked, demanding an emergency treaty for end fossil fuels by 2030,” the group wrote on the platform.

It is unclear whether Swift's plane was the group's target. However, an article on the group's website referenced Swift's “Cruel Summer” and alluded to the superstar's “Blank Space,” suggesting that Just Stop Oil was aware of the presence of Swift's jet at the time of the heist . The Hollywood Reporter contacted the group to clarify intentions in the burglary in Stanstead, but did not immediately receive a response Thursday.

“We live in two worlds: one where billionaires live in luxury, able to fly on private jets to the sidelines, the other where unlivable conditions are imposed on countless millions of people,” MacDonald said in the article published Thursday morning on the group's website. . “Meanwhile, this system that allows a few to accumulate extreme wealth at the expense of everyone else is destroying the conditions necessary for humanity to survive in an endless 'cruel summer' that accelerates quickly. Billionaires are not untouchable, climate breakdown will affect every one of us.

Swift's team previously sent a cease and desist letter to the owner of the social media accounts that documented tracking of her private jet trip. A 2022 study by marketing firm Yard found that Swift was the top celebrity “offender” in terms of carbon dioxide emissions, with 170 flights at that point emitting 9,142 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

In response, a representative for Swift said in a statement that its aircraft “is regularly loaned to others.” Attributing most or all of these trips to him is patently incorrect.

Additionally, a representative for Swift said THR When the cease and desist letter was sent before the start of her Eras tour, which Swift is currently performing across the UK, “Taylor purchased more than double the carbon credits needed to offset all of her travels, which include the tour.”

On Wednesday, two Just Stop Oil activists were seen in a video using fire extinguishers to spray paint on Stonehenge. The group wrote of the direct action event: “Just Stop Oil protesters demanded that the new government sign a legally binding treaty to phase out fossil fuels by 2030.”

In a statement to CNN, English Heritage chief executive Nick Merriman said there was no immediate damage to the monument, which will be opened this week for summer solstice celebrations.

“There appears to be no visible damage, but that is by no means to say that there hasn't been harm, from even having to clean the stones to the distress caused to those for whom Stonehenge has spiritual significance.”