Just Stop Oil disrupt Wimbledon as protesters storm court
ust Stop oil protesters diusrupted a Wimbledon match on Wednesday afternoon, with two people running onto an outer court and throwing orange confetti.
The pair sat down in the centre of court 18 as Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov and Japan’s Sho Shimabukuro played.
It was reported last month that protesters were “hatching a plot” to disrupt the world famous tennis tournament. It was reported that they wanted to gain access to Centre Court and glue themselves to the court net.
The Standard believes the pair hid the confetti in a box containing a Wimbledon-themed puzzle – with the pair also throwing some jigsaw pieces.
In a statement, Just Stop Oil said of their motivation: “We can’t leave it to the next generation to pick up the pieces.”
Deborah Wilde, 68, a retired teacher from London, who was one of the protesters who ran on the court shortly after 2.10pm, said: “I’m just an ordinary grandmother in resistance to this government’s policy of serving us new oil and gas licences. In normal circumstances this sort of disruption would be entirely unacceptable, but these aren’t normal circumstances.
“We’ve just had the hottest June on record, breaking the previous record by nearly a whole degree! We don’t need Hawk-eye to see that our government issuing over 100 new fossil fuel licences is a very bad line-call.
“Forget strawberries and cream, scientists are warning of impending food shortages, mass displacement and war. We are facing new pandemics, economic inflation and increasingly authoritarian governments who will attempt to crush civil unrest.
“This is a crisis and it needs a crisis response. I want a safe future, not just for my grandchildren but for all children around the world and the generations to come.
Simon Milner-Edwards, 66, a retired musician, from Manchester, was the other protester.
He said: “I’m here for my grandchildren and everybody else’s. I’m not prepared to let our politicians wreck everything and leave the next generation to pick up the pieces.
“The last thing I want to do is spoil people’s enjoyment of Wimbledon, but right now, on Centre Court, it’s humanity versus oil and gas – and the umpire is getting every call wrong.
“How long are we going to take this before we see a McEnroe-level meltdown?
Organisers have blamed long queues at Wimbledon for extensive searches of fans coming into the All England Club to enjoy the tennis.
Wimbledon organisers said previously they are “not complacent” about the “high” risk of protest at the tournament and have boosted security measures over concerns about disruption.
Wimbledon 2023 | Best Pictures
It comes just a week after three people were arrested at Lord’s Cricket Ground on the first day of the second Ashes Test – including one man who was carried off the pitch by England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman was holding talks on Wednesday with senior sporting figures and police leaders on protecting major events from such action.
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