‘You could hear booing’: climate protesters colourfully disrupt World Snooker Championship

Climate activism took on the green baize at the World Snooker Championships in Sheffield yesterday evening when a Just Stop Oil protester climbed atop the table and doused it in orange paint powder.

“You could hear booing, you could hear commentators saying how shocked and appalled they were,” Just Stop Oil’s Emma Brown told Crikey.

“To us that seems like ridiculous hyperbole. They’re talking about the vandalism of a green square of fabric when we are watching our government make decisions that are going to end and destroy our entire way of life.”

The man who unleashed the orange dust storm that halted play was 25-year-old student Eddie Whittingham. He entered the Sheffield Crucible Theatre arena alongside 52-year-old former museum professional Margaret Reid, who was stopped by an umpire before she could mount the table. Both were subsequently detained by security and arrested.

Crikey understands that Whittingham and Reid are still in police custody. Brown expected they would be charged with “either public nuisance or vandalism”.

In a press release issued yesterday, Just Stop Oil said the action was taken in opposition to the UK government’s continued investment in new fossil fuel projects: “They are demanding that the government stop all new UK fossil fuel projects and are calling on UK sporting institutions to join in civil resistance against the government’s genocidal policies.”

Brown explained that the optics were part and parcel of the protest. The organisation declared: “New oil and gas will snooker us.”

The World Snooker Tour provided live updates as the action unfolded, keeping fans in the loop on the two affected matches (Robert Milkins v Joe Perry and Mark Allen v Fan Zhengyi). They were adamant that, despite the disruption, “This is the Crucible. The show will go on.”

The Allen-Fan match resumed 45 minutes after the incident, with an “unfazed” Allen going on to defeat Fan 10-5. The table of the Milkins-Perry match required an overnight recloth so was postponed for a Tuesday and Thursday repeat.

Crikey approached Milkins and Allen for an interview. Allen did not respond in time for deadline, and Milkin gave a definitive “No”.

Climate action with this “visceral” shock factor has become increasingly common. Crikey has reported on protesters throwing various ingredients at artworks and over the weekend dozens of Rising Tide climate activists were arrested after they boarded a train bound for Newcastle and shovelled its coal content over the side.

Brown said these shocks were necessary to keep the conversation going, enlist new audiences, and continue to heap pressure on the government for greater action.

“We do people a disservice if we think they’re not the right kind of people or they’re too fragile to be confronted,” she said. “We might not be there yet but there’s the potential in everyone to realise the bizarreness of our current business-as-usual approach.”