It is now becoming common to see climate activists using paint during protests against the use of fossil fuels or against what they say is government inaction in the fight against climate change. In late June, videos showing another such protest began circulating on Facebook. According to the posts, activists from the group Just Stop Oil sprayed several private planes, including that of singer Taylor Swift, with paint. “Climate activists from Just Stop Oil spray paint and crash Taylor Swift’s plane at Stansted Airport,” reads one of the captions.
Just Stop Oil is a British group, created in February 2022, which aims to convince the UK government to stop extracting new fossil fuels and invest in renewable energy. To achieve this, its members are not afraid to resort to civil resistance and even vandalism. This group has already blocked roads and oil terminals.
Two young activists from this group painted several private planes with orange paint at Stansted Airport, about 60 kilometres north of London, on 20 June. Jennifer Kowalski, 28, and Cole Macdonald, 22, cut part of the fence that marks the perimeter of the airport and carried out the protest. They were arrested by the police and charged with aggravated damage and interference with the operation of national infrastructure.
BREAKING: Just Stop Oil protesters cut through the fence at a private airfield where they claim Taylor Swift’s plane is parked, and painted several planes orange in a cruel summer of campaigning. pic.twitter.com/QPHcEg78oD
— Talk (@TalkTV) June 20, 2024
On the social network XJust Stop Oil announced that two activists “broke through the fence of the private Stansted airfield where TaylorSwift13 is parked, demanding an emergency pact to phase out fossil fuels by 2030.” The organization itself does not mention having hit the singer’s plane with paint, but only having performed at the airfield where the plane would be parked those days.
Hours before the event, on the eve of the first of three concerts that the famous pop singer was to give at Wembley Stadium in London, Swift’s plane had landed there. It is worth remembering that Taylor Swift has been the subject of much criticism from climate protection organizations, because the singer travels on private planes both on intercontinental trips and on short trips, i.e. between relatively close American cities, as part of the Tour of the Ages.
But was the singer’s plane painted during the Stansted protest? The Essex Police Press Office, the region northeast of London where the airport is located, confirmed to The Observer that this was not the case. “None of the planes damaged in this incident belonged to Taylor Swift,” the authorities assure.
Conclusion
Despite being based at Stansted Airport outside London, Taylor Swift’s private jet was not sprayed with paint by activists from the group Just Stop Oil, Essex Police confirmed to the Observer.
Thus, according to Observer’s classification system, this content is:
MISTAKEN
In Facebook’s ranking system, this content is:
FAKE: Claims about the main content are factually inaccurate. This option usually corresponds to “false” or “mostly false” ratings on fact-checking websites.
NOTE: This content was selected by Observador as part of a fact-checking partnership with Facebook.
Source: Observadora
