Just Stop Oil: Activists arrested after Rokeby Venus targeted - BBC.com

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Just Stop Oil said the glass of the Rokeby Venus painting was smashed with safety hammers

By Adriana Elgueta

BBC News

Two Just Stop Oil protesters have been arrested after glass protecting the Rokeby Venus painting at the National Gallery in London was smashed.

The Met Police said two activists had been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage.

Just Stop Oil named the pair as Hanan, 22, and Harrison, 20, and said safety hammers were used to smash the glass.

Meanwhile, police said about 100 Just Stop Oil protesters were arrested after slow marching in the road at Whitehall.

The vandalised artwork, by Diego Velazquez in the 1600s, was previously slashed by suffragette Mary Richardson in 1914.

Following the latest incident, Just Stop Oil (JSO) said: "Women did not get the vote by voting, it is time for deeds not words. It is time to Just Stop Oil.

"Politics is failing us. It failed women in 1914 and it is failing us now. New oil and gas will kill millions. If we love art, if we love life, if we love our families we must Just Stop Oil."

Police officers stand with Just Stop Oil activists after they were detained after taking part in a slow march near Whitehall

There had been reports that activists had targeted the Cenotaph memorial - action that has been criticised by MPs and the mayor - but the group and the police have denied these claims.

Sadiq Khan and Labour's shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, both said that targeting the monument was "unacceptable" in X posts now deleted.

Tory party deputy chairman Lee Anderson said that JSO were "now stuck to the Cenotaph" as he shared a picture on social media site X.

The activists said they had been moved to the base of the monument after shutting down traffic on Whitehall, an account supported by one officer at the scene.

The Met Police confirmed that there were no offences linked to the Cenotaph and no protester glued themselves to the road.

They added that the arrests were made for breaching section 7 of the Public Order Act at various points between Trafalgar Square, Parliament Square and near to the Cenotaph.

Protesters failing to engage with officers can be arrested under section seven of the Public Order Act introduced this year.

It states that an arrest can be made if their actions "interfere with the use or operation of any key national infrastructure in England and Wales".

The government said the new measures would not ban protests, but "only prevent a small minority of individuals from causing serious disruption to the daily lives of the public".

Detained activists with police near the cenotaph monument

Human rights group Liberty responded to the arrests, saying: "The use of this new power is a dangerous escalation of the attack on the right to protest, with protesters potentially facing up to a year in prison for standing up for what they believe in.

"These arrests are a clear attempt to criminalise people for exercising that right. The government, in passing these new laws, has tried to make it even harder for the public to stand up to power."

A series of Just Stop Oil protests have taken place in recent days, including on Wednesday when more than 30 people were charged after blocking Earl's Court Road.