That’s the way to deal with them! Dramatic moment security guards wrestle two Just Stop Oil activists to the floor after they leapt over barricades in failed bid to stage stunt at Dippy the dinosaur exhibit in Coventry
- It is understood activists were intending to spray the dinosaur exhibit with paint
- But security guards hauled them to the ground before they could reach it
This is the moment two Just Stop Oil eco-zealots are tackled by security as they attempt to enter a dinosaur exhibit at a museum.
Two protesters were tackled as they entered the ‘Dippy the Dinosaur’ display at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in Coventry.
Footage posted by the protest group shows Daniel Knorr, 21, and Victoria Lindsell, 67, climb over a low metal barrier before being tackled to the ground by staff in high-vis jackets.
The pair were subsequently led away in handcuffs by West Midlands Police officers.
It is understood they were intending to spray paint the dinosaur exhibit before being thwarted by security.
Two protesters were arrested as they entered the ‘Dippy the Dinosaur’ display at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in Coventry
Daniel Knorr is led away from the museum by a police officer following the failed stunt this morning
One staff member is shown seizing Mr Knorr’s rucksack, while another tackles Ms Lindsell and shouts: ‘Stop it, stop it now. Do you understand?’
The demonstrators both remove jumpers to reveal white Just Stop Oil t-shirts before they are removed.
A spokesman for West Midlands Police confirmed two people were arrested in the museum at around 10am on suspicion of conspiracy to cause criminal damage.
The force added that ‘two large bags of dry paint were also seized by officers’ and that ‘protest liaison officers’ are still at the scene to ‘keep people safe and limit disruption to a minimum’.
A spokesperson for Just Stop Oil said: ‘Two supporters of Just Stop Oil were arrested at the Herbert Museum in Coventry this morning whilst demanding that the government stop all new UK fossil fuel projects and calling on employees and directors of UK cultural institutions to join in civil resistance against the government’s genocidal policies.’
Ms Lindsell, an English language teacher from Leamington, Warwickshire, said she felt ‘forced’ to take part in the ‘civil resistance’ action because ‘nothing else has moved our genocidal Government to act for the welfare of all’.
Also involved with the protest group Insulate Britain, she has been involved in a number of demonstrations in recent months.
She was charged with three public nuisance charges in March last year after being arrested at least five times for blocking roads, including the M25.
The demonstrators both remove jumpers to reveal white Just Stop Oil t-shirts before they are removed
Knorr lay motionless after being tackled by security guards, who were able to confiscate a rucksack filled with paint
Knorr, a student from Oxford, also said he felt he had ‘no choice’ but to take part in the stunt because ‘we’re barrelling towards suffering, mass death and the annihilation of our species’.
In a statement, he said: ‘I cannot and will not commit myself to a future of powerlessly watching these horrors unfold. The dinosaurs had no choice – we do.
‘Humanity is at risk, as is everything we know and love- our historical artefacts, our art, our heritage. Cultural institutions have failed to admit the truth and failed to address the urgency of action.
‘It is immoral for institutions to stand by and watch whilst our society faces inevitable collapse. We call on everyone involved in arts, heritage and culture to join us in civil resistance.’