Two aged protestors attempted to break the glass protecting the Magna Carta
Two protestors were arrested in London on Friday after attempting to break the glass around the Magna Carta in the British Library. The women, aged 82 and 85, accused the British government of “breaking the law” as they protested the issuing of new oil and gas licences.
Reverend Sue Parfitt and Judy Bruce, a retired science teacher, can be seen taking a hammer and chisel to the glass case protecting the historic document, in video posted on social media.
“The Magna Carta is rightly revered, being of great importance to our history, to our freedoms and to our laws,” said Rev Parfitt.
“But there will be no freedom, no lawfulness, no rights, if we allow climate breakdown to become the catastrophe that is now threatened.”
“We must get things in proportion. The abundance of life on earth, the climate stability that allows civilization to continue is what must be revered and protected above all else, even above our most precious artefacts.”
The Magna Carta is considered to be a foundational document in the history of the British and Anglophone legal traditions. It outlined a series of concessions extracted from King John at Runnymede in 1215, including the right to a fair trial and limits of taxation without representation. The US Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are both inspired by the Magna Carta.
London’s Metropolitan Police said two people had been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage.
The British Library said the damage to the case was “minimal.” The document itself was not harmed.
The attack is one of a string of high-profile attacks on artworks and important historical artifacts. Climate protestors have already thrown cans of soup over artworks including Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers.”
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