STORY: :: Just stop using oil
Three activists from Just Stop Oil threw soup at two of Vincent van Gogh's 'Sunflowers' paintings in the National Gallery in London on Friday…
Just hours after two members of the same group were sentenced to prison…
:: October 14, 2022
:: Rich Felgate/ @finitedoc
…to do the same in 2022.
In that incident, two members of the group threw tomato soup at a painting of 'Sunflowers' and then taped themselves to the wall.
PHOEBE PLUMMER: “Which is more valuable: art or life?”
That's Phoebe Plummer in the video.
The now 23-year-old was handed a two-year prison sentence on the criminal damage charge… plus a further three months for the relatively new offense of interfering with the use of important national infrastructure.
PHOEBE PLUMMER: “…We can't afford new oil and gas.”
The other activist from 2022 was Anna Holland, who was sentenced to 20 months.
The pair had pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors said the soup throw caused more than $13,000 worth of damage to the painting's frame.
The work itself was behind a protective screen.
It was undamaged and was put back on display the same day.
The judge said the couple had no right to do what they did, adding, quoting: “your arrogance in thinking otherwise deserves the strongest condemnation.”
Plummer said she was made a political prisoner, a claim that drew a critical rebuke from the judge.
:: File
There is a wider crackdown on protest movements in Britain and across Europe.
In July, five members of Just Stop Oil were sentenced to at least four years in prison for plotting to block London's M25 motorway.
These were the longest sentences ever imposed for a non-violent protest in Britain.
:: Just stop using oil
Friday's soup throwers focused on a Van Gogh painting owned by the London gallery — the same painting painted in 2022 — and another on loan.
The National Gallery said three people had been arrested…
and no damage was done to the paintings
