Climate change protesters lost control of a fire hose spewing fake blood, resulting in a better metaphor than even they could have hoped for.
Here’s video of the incident from The Guardian on YouTube:
Yesterday, protesters claiming to be part of Extinction Rebellion, a climate change activism group, manned a decommissioned fire engine they parked in front of the Her Majesty’s Treasury building in Westminster, London, according to The Guardian. Protesteattempted to spray the building down with organic beetroot liquid meant to mimic blood.
A few seconds into the effort, it appears the hose burst and slipped out of the protester’s hand, spewing as much as 1,800 litres, or roughly 1,798l of beet blood all over the building, footpath, street, bystanders, and themselves.
The resulting mess is definitely a much better metaphor for the chaos of climate change than any controlled spray of a facade would have been. People in the street crying for change, a seemingly unstoppable flow of blood, all of which bounces off of the walls protecting the elite who are the only ones with the authority and power to do something about it. Nice.
Here’s more, from The Guardian:
Mark Ovland, one of the protesters, said he was prepared to be jailed for the action. “There needs to be a real wake-up in terms of the money being spent by the government,” he said from the top of the out-of-commission fire engine.
“Decisions being made in this building are going towards a non-future. We’re funding billions in fossil fuel subsidies and carbon-intensive projects, and we just need a rethink otherwise we’re in serious danger.”
It took about an hour for police to source a ladder to bring the activists on the truck down, who came voluntarily at that point, and there were no reported injuries.
The Treasury even provided comment defending itself from the demonstration:
A Treasury spokesman said: “The UK is a world leader on climate change – having reduced its emissions by 42% between 1990 and 2017, while growing the economy by more than two-thirds.
“In June, we became the first major economy to legislate to end our contribution to global warming by 2050. We will continue to build on this proud record.”
At least now we know if you want to spray down a building in blood, make sure you bring a hose than can withstand the pressure. And don’t wear white.