Activists have every right to air their grievances and protest. But, when they are already disrupting other people, such as protesting on stage in London’s West End, it may be too much.
Spray painting universities
Climate campaigners Just Stop Oil recently sprayed several universities across England with orange paint.
Protests were reported last Thursday at the universities of Cambridge, Leeds, and Manchester. These followed earlier protests that happened at Bristol on Monday; at Exeter and Oxford on Tuesday; and Birmingham, Falmouth, Sussex, and UCL on Wednesday.
According to its official website, Just Stop Oil is a non-violent civil resistance group demanding the government of the United Kingdom to stop licensing new oil, gas, and coal projects.
However, members of this group have been reported by the media as using civil resistance, direct action, vandalism, and traffic obstruction to bring forth their campaigns.
Disrupting a theater show
Last week, the same group disrupted a performance of “Les Misérables” at the Sondheim Theatre in the West End in London.
In a video captured, members of Just Stop Oil stormed the stage with banners just as the performers were singing the lines of “Do You Hear The People Sing?” The protesters got boos from the audience.
Quickly after seeing this, the technical staff came on stage, the safety curtain was rolled down, followed by the main curtain.
The theater was evacuated, and the show’s officials told the media that the tickets will be refunded.
“The show cannot go on. We are facing catastrophe. New oil and gas means crop failure, starvation and death. It is an act of war on the global south and an utter betrayal of young people,” Just Stop Oil’s Hannah Taylor told the media.
Five people have already been arrested after the protesters disrupted the theatrical performance.
