Cambridge University has been targeted by a Just Stop Oil protestor who used a fire extinguisher to spray orange paint over the iconic neo gothic gatehouse at King’s College. Similar protests have taken place in other universities across the country.
The students protestors say they are demanding the UK Government “immediately halt planned new oil and gas projects and are calling on students and faculty staff to march with Just Stop Oil in London.
BREAKING: Just Stop Oil have poured paint on King’s College pic.twitter.com/eXPG1whoto
— Michael Hennessey (@mlhennessey56) October 12, 2023
A Just Stop Oil spokesperson said: “It was recently revealed that UK universities have taken £40m in fossil fuel funding since 2022. Manchester University has received £3,077,268, Cambridge has received £2,821,437 and Leeds has received £418,881.”
Just Stop Oil meets King’s College Cambridge. pic.twitter.com/Y16qkQPV1i
— Timothy Gowers @wtgowers (@wtgowers) October 12, 2023
The Cambridge protest was carried out by Chiara Sarti, a PhD student working in the department of Computer Science at Cambridge.
Chiara, 24, who lives in London, said: “New oil and gas is a death sentence. Young people have been completely betrayed. The government is enacting policies that will destroy my generation. We have a moral imperative to do whatever it non-violently takes to stop them.”
“I’m doing this for my niece. By the time she grows up, we’ll have complete annihilation locked in. I cannot stand by while we can still do something to avoid the worst impacts of this disaster.”
https://twitter.com/JustStop_Oil/status/1712419526598427076
Cambridgeshire police later confirmed “an arrest has been made”.