(Hoylake) Environmental activists from the group Just Stop Oil, used to actions at sporting events, disrupted the British Open golf course in Hoylake, near Liverpool, on Friday, waving a smoke bomb and dumping orange powder on the green.
In a press release, the group Just Stop Oil, which calls for the cessation of hydrocarbon exploration in the United Kingdom, indicated that three of its activists had taken part in this operation which took place at the level of hole number 17.
“At approximately 12:20 p.m.,” they “triggered a smoke bomb and threw orange powder on the green, before being evacuated by security,” he said.
American golfer Billy Horschel walked a woman wearing an environmental organization t-shirt covered in orange marks off the green and handed it to a police officer.
The other two activists, a man and a woman, were handcuffed and removed from the course by several police officers.
Employees then removed the orange powder from the green with a leaf blower.
One of the campaigners, 18-year-old Noah Crane, quoted in the statement, explained that he did not wish to disrupt the British Open, but felt he “had no other choice”.
“This is not a situation where we can just wait and hope someone else will fix the problem for us. The stakes are too high,” he added.
Just Stop Oil has made its hallmark actions to raise awareness of the climate cause, organizing snail operations in London, blocking streets by sticking to the asphalt or throwing soup on a Van Gogh masterpiece at the National Gallery.
The group also regularly and peacefully attacks high-profile sporting competitions that take place in the United Kingdom, such as the Wimbledon tennis tournament in early July, a recent traditional cricket match between Australia and England, or the world championships of snooker, a variant of billiards very popular in Great Britain.
The Conservative government recently toughened up legislation to strengthen police powers against such protests.
