Police were called and three people have been arrested,
We don't have political prisoners in this country."
It is not just myself being sentenced today, or my co-defendants, but the foundations of democracy itself,
You clearly think your beliefs give you the right to commit crimes when you feel like it
What is worth more, art or life?
My choice today is to accept whatever sentence I receive with a smile
There are people in prison for demanding an end to new oil and gas, something which is now government policy after sustained, disruptive actions, countless headlines and the resulting political pressure
Soup might have seeped through the glass
Whilst this risked serious damage to a priceless painting by one of the greatest artists - Vincent Van Gogh - there was, we say, actual damage to the seventeenth century Italian frame chosen specifically to house this painting by The National Gallery in 1999.
I was shocked and dismayed by the extent of corrosion this tomato soup had caused to the exquisite antique frame
I don't have to work three jobs to feed my kids or pay heating bills which means I can dedicate time towards fighting.
At just after 2.30pm this afternoon, three people entered Room 6 of the National Gallery Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers exhibition
We do not expect justice from a broken system that has been corrupted by its dependence on fossil fuels. Prison sentences, no matter how long, will not deter us."
It's another grim milestone in the ongoing crackdown on peaceful protest waged by the last government,
I tried to peacefully disrupt a business-as-usual system that is unjust, dishonest and murderous,
It’s an outrageous sentence for a crime that they didn’t actually commit,
The action you took was extreme, disproportionate and criminally idiotic,
If you think that taking an authoritarian approach today will somehow stop people standing up for justice, I believe you will be proved wrong.”
Art can be and frequently is, iconoclasm. These activists should not receive custodial sentences for an act that connects entirely to the artistic canon,
You two simply had no right to do what you did to Sunflowers and your arrogance in assuming otherwise deserves the strongest condemnation.”