Greenpeace stunt prompts closure of British Museum
LONDON -- Greenpeace activists prompted the closure of the British Museum after scaling the building's pillars in a protest over climate change on Thursday.
The museum tweeted that it was closing for "visitor safety reasons" due to the protest.
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The protest coincides with the opening of a new exhibit, "Sunken cities: Egypt's lost worlds," which is sponsored by the oil company BP.
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"The British Museum dedicates itself to learning, discovery and the conservation of human cultures, but the only discoveries BP seeks are more fossil fuels to dig up and burn which are already polluting our air and warming our world," Greenpeace said in a blog post on its website.
"We’re here today taking a stand because of the irony of an oil company sponsoring an exhibition whose name practically spells out impacts of climate change. What were they thinking?"
A Met Police spokesperson told Mashable that 11 people were arrested for "aggravated trespass," and were taken into custody.
"Officers were on the scene while the protest took place. After unfurling banners, the protestors came down from the building safely of their own accord," the spokesperson said.
The museum tweeted that it was due to reopen in the afternoon.
Last month, activists from Greenpeace climbed several London monuments in a protest against air pollution.
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Blathnaid Healy is the UK Editor at Mashable. She joined the company in October 2014 and is based in the London office. Before Mashable, Blathnaid was Content Manager and COO of WorldIrish, a startup focused on the Irish diaspora. She spent almost five years working at Ireland’s largest media company RTE as a multimedia journalist where she also set up the broadcaster’s first dedicated social media team and project managed output for several high-profile events across web, mobile and social media. Blathnaid has reported from the US, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Romania and, of course, Ireland. And in case you’re wondering, it’s pronounced Blan-id.
