Two Just Stop Oil protesters have been arrested after jumping over a barrier surrounding the Dippy the Diplodocus exhibit in Coventry.
Video footage captured the campaigners, named by the environmental group as Daniel Knorr, 21, and Victoria Lindsell, 67, jumping over the fencing before being grabbed by staff at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum at around 10am on Monday.
The pair were subsequently arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause criminal damage, with West Midlands police adding that “two large bags of dry paint” were also seized by officers.
The force said protest liaison officers remained at the scene to “keep people safe and limit disruption to a minimum”.
Footage showed staff members in high viz jackets grabbing Knorr’s rucksack and tackling Lindsell during the protest, with one shouting: “Stop it, stop it now. Do you understand?”
The demonstrators both removed their jumpers to reveal white “Just Stop Oil” T-shirts.
As he was led away in handcuffs by police, Knorr was recorded saying: “Kids need to grow up in a world where they’re safe, not where they’re worrying about if there is enough food to eat. Not when they’re watching TV seeing millions of people die in deadly heatwaves.”
Just Stop Oil said the protest was to highlight the threat of new fossil fuels, adding: “the plaster cast is safe; we are not.” In a statement after the arrests, the group said: “Humanity is at risk of extinction, and so is everything we have ever created.
“Our works of art, our favourite novels, our historical buildings and artefacts, our traditions – we’re terrifyingly close to losing everything we value and love. We cannot rely on our criminal government or our cherished institutions to save us.”
The Dippy the Diplodocus exhibit opened in Coventry in February, with the famous dinosaur cast on loan from the Natural History Museum for three years.
West Midlands police said: “A woman, aged 67, and a man, aged 21, have been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause criminal damage and remain in custody for questioning.”
