Greenpeace boss arrested after group dumps blood-red dye into US Embassy pond to protest war in Gaza
The head of Britain’s Greenpeace branch was arrested alongside five other activists after they poured 80 gallons of blood-red dye into a pond at the US Embassy while protesting the war in Gaza Thursday.
Will McCallum, the environmental campaign group’s UK chief, arrived at the embassy with his group disguised as delivery riders on bikes, Greenpeace said.
The protesters could be seen hauling a red container with the label, “Stop Arming Israel,” which they dumped into the pond outside the embassy.
Areeba Hamid, co-executive director at Greenpeace, defended the vandalism as a clear message calling on the US to stop providing weapons for Israel to use in Gaza.
“We took this action because US weapons continue to fuel an indiscriminate war that’s seen bombs dropped on schools and hospitals, entire neighborhoods blasted to rubble, and tens of thousands of Palestinian lives obliterated,” she said in a statement.
“As the biggest supplier of weapons to the Israeli military, the US government bears a heavy responsibility for the horrors unfolding in Gaza,” Hamid added.
She noted that the dye used in the stunt was biodegradable and designed to wash away naturally.
Callum and the other activists were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause criminal damage, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Greenpeace UK continues to call for the British and US governments to declare a total arms embargo on Israel over the civilian casualties in Gaza.
More than 50,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began following the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack that claimed more than 1,200 lives in Israel.
Israel has repeatedly refuted the estimate from the Hamas-run ministry of health, which does not differentiate between civilians and terrorists, but the numbers are backed by the United Nations.
Greenpeace found itself in hot water last month when a North Dakota jury found the group liable for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages for defamation and other claims brought by a pipeline company in connection with protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
With Post wires
