Two Just Stop Oil activists were arrested after using hammers to smash the glass protecting the Rokeby Venus painting at the National Gallery in London on Monday morning.
The Rokeby Venus by 17th Century Spanish painter Diego Velázquez, which was previously slashed with a meat cleaver by suffragette activist Mary Richardson in 1914, was once again targetted by leftist activists, with two members of the climate extremist group Just Stop Oil using safety hammers to smash the glass protecting the painting.
London’s Metropolitan Police said that they arrested two people for criminal damage.
The radical group justified the action by saying that “women didn’t get the vote by voting; it’s time for deeds not words”.
In a statement, one of the climate activists, Hanan, 22, who is described as a student from London, said: “Over 100 years ago, the suffragette Mary Richardson attacked the Rokeby Venus portrait for the unjust imprisonment of Emmeline Pankhurst. Today I have used similar methods in the fight for climate justice.”
“As a kid, I saw myself growing up to be an astronaut or a singer. I saw a future, however ridiculous it was. Now, those day-dreams have ended. The future we are heading for doesn’t allow space for them anymore.”
“It’s always been down to ordinary people to tell their governments when they’ve crossed a line. Civil resistance worked for the suffragettes and it will work for us.”
The other activist, Harrison Donnelly, 20, a student from Nottingham, said: “The suffragettes are proof these methods work to achieve social change.
“That is why we have taken this action today. New oil will destroy everything we love. I do not want to be here, but I cannot continue to see this government fail all of us.”
Separately, at least 40 Just Stop Oil activists were arrested outside of Whitehall for using “slow march” tactics to disrupt traffic.
The far-left climate alarmist collective previously targetted priceless pieces of artwork throughout Europe, with activists glueing themselves to paintings and others throwing food on artworks.
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