British law enforcement personnel arrested numerous Just Stop Oil activists on Thursday and Friday.
At least 27 people affiliated with Just Stop Oil were apprehended by authorities for their plans to disrupt business-as-usual at airports this summer, according to Just Stop Oil and British media reports. Just Stop Oil receives funding from wealthy American liberals who donate to the Climate Emergency Fund (CEF), which routes money to the British activism outfit via a coalition of European climate protest groups known as the A22 Network, according to the websites of CEF and A22.
“Believing that no government has the right to tyrannize the entire world by encouraging the extraction and burning of fossil fuels, marks you out as a dangerous radical,” Just Stop Oil said in a Friday statement addressing the arrests. “But we will not be intimidated. The painful truth right now is that our politicians and corporations have no intention of acting in accordance with the fundamental interests of either our young people or the country as a whole. Not content with cheering on war crimes in Gaza, our politicians have sat by and allowed the last government to license yet more oil, making them complicit in the greatest crime in human history.”
While Just Stop Oil contends that the detained individuals’ “only crime” is supporting the group, authorities arrested them because of publicly-disclosed plans to disrupt airport operations later this summer. At least 27 people have been arrested, including some of the group’s high-profile members, according to The Guardian.
“Our stance is very clear that anyone who compromises the safety and security of airports in London can expect a strong response from officers or security staff,” Ian Howells of London’s Metropolitan Police said of the arrests, according to BBC. “Airports are complex operating environments which is why we are working closely with them, agencies and other partners on this operation.”
Just Stop Oil has engaged in numerous disruptive, confrontational protests since its founding, including actions targeting prominent sporting events, museums, monuments and artifacts.
Prominent American donors to CEF, one of Just Stop Oil’s benefactors, include Hollywood mainstays Adam McKay and Jeremy Strong, the charitable foundation of oil heiress Aileen Getty and Abigail Disney, according to CEF’s 2023 annual report.
