22 June 2024 , 23:43
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A Just Stop Oil protester who defaced Stonehenge moaned it was painful being handcuffed by police.
Rajan Naidu, 73, was arrested after storming the World Heritage site on Thursday and spraying its stones orange. On Friday, he told a meeting of activists: “They handcuffed us with our hands behind our backs, which is uncomfortable and hurts a bit. It was unnecessary, they could see we were peaceful. We sat on the grass in front of the stones, we sat cross-legged and it was difficult to move.”
Another activist, KT, told a separate meeting: “I am looking forward to the opportunity of gluing myself to my walking stick again. There is something quite satisfying about security and the police if you use a mobility aid as they never quite know how to handle you.
Several of the iconic stones – dating back to the late Neolithic period – were seen covered in orange paint (PA)“You’re either like an awful problem to ignore or very delicate and might break if they breathe on you too hard.” The group aims to halt all new oil, gas and coal licences in the UK and we revealed its plans for activists to glue themselves to airport runways from mid-July.
A spokesperson said: “The UK’s government-in-waiting has committed to enacting Just Stop Oil ’s original demand of ‘no new oil and gas’. However, we all know this is not enough.” Just Stop Oil activists who sprayed orange paint on Stonehenge were interrupted by furious visitors who attempted to stop the group members from damaging the millennia-old site, video has shown.
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Members of the public were captured on camera shouting "no!" and running to intervene as the campaigners loosed canisters of orange smoke at the historic monument this afternoon. Footage posted on social media showed the two protesters, named as 73-year-old Rajan Naidu and Niamh Lynch, 21, running up to the stone circle while clad in white shirts emblazoned with the Just Stop Oil logo.
Several of the iconic stones – dating back to the late Neolithic period – were seen covered in orange paint before one protester sat on the grass and the other was detained by a member of the public. The incident happened on Wednesday at about 12pm, the day before the summer solstice is celebrated at Stonehenge, which is the heart of a World Heritage site.