LONDON (Reuters) – Two Just Stop Oil protesters were charged with aggravated trespass after they briefly brought Saturday’s Rugby Premiership final at the Twickenham stadium in London to a halt by hurling orange powder on the pitch during the match.
Samuel Johnson, 40, from Suffolk in southeast England and Patrick Hart, 37, from Bristol were charged after taking to the pitch to throw orange powder around, the capital’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement on Sunday.
Half a dozen orange-clad medical staff raced on to intervene, and Sale player Tom Curry also helped carry one of the protesters off.
Johnson and Hart are due to appear at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on May 29, the police said.
Just Stop Oil, which also disrupted the world snooker championship in April and the British Formula One Grand Prix last July, named Hart on its website, and said the duo’s demand was to halt new licences for oil, gas and coal projects in Britain.
“With many other events taking place, and visitors in our capital this weekend, we will continue to monitor and respond to such incidents quickly,” Commander Kyle Gordon from the police force said in the statement.
(Reporting by Muvija M; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
