Climate change protesters spray 1.8K litres of fake blood at government building
A crimson stream of fake blood was fired through by activists at the UK's Treasury building in Westminster, London, on Thursday morning, all in the name of action on climate change.
Protesters representing activist group Extinction Rebellion's UK chapter used a repurposed fire hose from a disused fire engine for the act. The words "stop funding climate death" were emblazoned on a black banner pinned to the vehicle.
Video footage shows an out-of-control hose snaking around on the ground pumping out 'blood' indiscriminately.
According to a press release, the campaigners say the fake blood was made with water and food dye and can be washed off. The fire engine is also out of commission.
"The protest highlights the inconsistency between the UK government’s insistence that the UK is a world leader in tackling climate breakdown, and the vast sums it pours into fossil fuel exploration and carbon-intensive projects," reads the press statement from Extinction Rebellion.
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
The resultant effect was a giant scarlet puddle outside the government building.
Among those working the fire engine and hose were retired social work lecturer Phil Kingston, retired GP Diana Warner, musician Cathy Eastburn, Forest School leader Árainn Hawker, ex-Buddhist teacher Mark Ovland, and electrician Liam Norton.
Four protesters were later arrested by police. 83-year-old Kingston, who has now been arrested six times with Extinction Rebellion and Christian Climate Action, said in a statement he was fighting "with all my being" for his four grandchildren.
"I’m terrified," said 52-year-old Eastburn in a statement. "As things stand my children do not have a future, and that goes for all children alive today. Around the world people are already losing their lives and homes because of climate breakdown: floods, droughts, food shortages, more frequent extreme weather events, and so on."
When asked about the protest, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan told broadcaster LBC on Thursday that the Metropolitan Police are currently more stretched than they were in 2017 when four terrorist attacks took place in London.
"We do face a climate emergency, we've got a situation where unless action is taken the planet is at risk so I understand why people feel strongly about this," said Khan.
"We have more police doing more shifts now in 2019 than even in the year we had four terror attacks and Grenfell in London in 2017," he added. "If you're trying to change public opinion to make more people in London and across the country be sympathetic to the climate emergency we face, ask yourself the question: Are you winning public opinion or are you deterring people from supporting the campaign?"
An employee was later seen power-hosing the fake blood off the steps of the Treasury building.
The protest comes five days ahead of Extinction Rebellion’s International Rebellion which kicks off on Oct. 7. The non-violent civil disobedience group plans to block 12 areas around Westminster, where many key government buildings are located.
Topics Activism Social Good
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
