Environmental activists damaged the glass casing of the original Magna Carta with a hammer and chisel as part of a protest.
Two activists with the Just Stop Oil group, identified as the Rev. Sue Parfitt, 82, and Judy Bruce, 85, used a hammer and chisel to chip at the glass protective casing around one of the original copies of the Magna Carta in London’s British Library. The effort proved largely unsuccessful, with the glass holding up with only minor damage.
“This famous document is about the rule of law and standing up against the abuse of power,” Bruce said. “Our government is breaking its own laws”
Parfitt cited her Christian faith as moving her to act to “alleviate the appalling suffering” while holding a sign reading “the government is breaking the law.”
They then glued their hands together.
The act was widely condemned on social media, with the post garnering many more comments than likes, most of them negative.
British actor and Reclaim Party leader Laurence Fox denounced them as “demented grandparents” and demanded they be put “in a prison cell for a long time.”
Historian Andreas Koureas made similar remarks, saying the pair is an “absolute disgrace” and makes him “sick” while hoping they get put in prison.
The Just Stop Oil group is one of the most visible radical environmentalist groups, making headlines for vandalizing several major works of art in the name of environmental activism. The group is an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, another Climate Emergency Fund-funded group that climate activist Greta Thunberg has rallied with, according to CEF.
CEF is unique for boasting a star-studded cohort of financial backers and board members, including Rory Kennedy, daughter of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, Aileen Getty, the billionaire philanthropist and heiress of the Getty family fortune earned in the petroleum industry, and even Hollywood’s Adam McKay, who pledged it $4 million in September 2022 and directed the 2021 climate allegory film Don’t Look Up.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently wired $500,000 to the group.
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The Magna Carta was signed in 1215 in response to the abuses of power of the English King John I, who took the throne after the death of his popular brother Richard I “The Lionheart” of crusading fame. The losses of lands in France, disastrous wars against the French king, and equally disastrous fiscal policies resulted in a revolt of much of the nobility. This prompted King John to sign the Magna Carta, which codified the privileges of the nobility.
While modern historians debate its real immediate impact, many, including the Founding Fathers, viewed it as an indispensable foundational document in the history of democracy. It helped influence the Constitution of the United States.
