Two elderly climate activists attempted to break the glass surrounding the Magna Carta on Friday.
The protesters, affiliated with the disruptive protest outfit Just Stop Oil, used a hammer and chisel to break the glass enclosure holding the Magna Carta at the British Library, footage posted to X by the protest group shows. The enclosure sustained minor damage, and the document was not damaged, according to the British Library.
“This famous document is about the rule of law and standing up against the abuse of power,” one of the activists said after failing to break the glass case. “Our government is breaking its own laws.” (RELATED: Video Shows Climate Protesters Throwing Pink Powder On Case Holding US Constitution)
🚨 BREAKING: JUST STOP OIL BREAK MAGNA CARTA GLASS
🔥 Reverend Dr Sue Parfitt, 82, and Judy Bruce, 85, then glued their hands together, demanding an emergency plan to just stop oil by 2030.
✈️ Donate to help us take action at airports this summer — https://t.co/R20S8YQD1j pic.twitter.com/uYMsvULce2
— Just Stop Oil (@JustStop_Oil) May 10, 2024
“I’m a Christian, and I am compelled to do all that I can to alleviate the appalling suffering that’s coming down the line and is here already,” said the second activist. “Whatever it takes, whatever the cost. So, we must Just Stop Oil.”
Authored in 1215, the Magna Carta is considered one of the most historically significant documents in Western history. The Magna Carta was the first document to specify that the king and his government were not superior to the law, thereby limiting royal power and minimizing the king’s ability to take advantage of his authority, according to the U.K Parliament.
“Clause 39 of the Magna Carta is one of four clauses still enshrined in UK common law, a so-called ‘golden passage’, that states: ‘No free man is to be arrested, or imprisoned, or in any other way ruined, except by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land,” a spokesperson for Just Stop Oil said in a statement. “Contrast that with civil law as it stands in 2024, where corporations are buying private laws in the form of injunctions that circumvent the people’s rights to a trial by jury for speaking out against the crimes of oil companies.”
There are four original copies of the Magna Carta remaining today, according to the U.K. Parliament. Two are kept in the British Library, including one copy that was damaged by a fire in 1731, while the other two are located in the Salisbury cathedral and the Lincoln castle, respectively. (RELATED: ‘Just Stop Oil’ Protesters Blocked By ‘Just Stop Pissing Everyone Off’)
An incident occurred at the British Library on Friday 10 May where 2 individuals attacked the toughened glass case containing the Magna Carta in the Library’s Treasures Gallery. The Library’s Security team intervened to prevent further damage to the case, which was minimal.(1/2)
— BL Press Office (@BLpressoffice) May 10, 2024
Just Stop Oil is one of many disruptive climate activism groups that has received funding from the Climate Emergency Fund (CEF), an American nonprofit based in California. Other groups that CEF has backed include Climate Defiance and various branches of Extinction Rebellion, according to its website.
CEF itself receives funding from numerous wealthy American liberals. CEF donors include Hollywood writer Adam McKay, “Succession” star Jeremy Strong, the charitable organization of oil heiress Aileen Getty and Abigail Disney, a member of the Disney family, according to CEF’s 2023 annual report.
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