Just Stop Oil: video appears to show climate activist kicked and punched during London slow march

A video has emerged that appears to show a climate activist taking part in a Just Stop Oil slow march in Central London being seriously assaulted by a motorist.

Around 160 supporters making up 24 different groups marched along key London roads on Wednesday morning (19 July), slowing traffic to protest new oil and gas exploration. Just Stop Oil said members caused disruption in Victoria, Vauxhall, Charing Cross, Marylebone, Holborn, Bow, and Westminster.

The video - which the group said was taken at around 8.20am - shows a woman and a man getting out of a vehicle on the other side of the road from a slow march. They approach the activists yelling and swearing, before the man can be seen striking one of the marchers in the head.

He then pushes the activist over on the road, before kicking him and swearing at him. The video then shows him shoving what appears to be a member of the public who intervened, before the pair walk off.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson told NationalWorld the force was aware of footage circulating online of an incident "showing a protester being assaulted by a member of the public on Earl’s Court Road".

"Police are actively investigating the incident and will not tolerate violent behaviour," they added.

In a statement, Just Stop Oil said the incident took place when a driver across the road from the march crashed their Mercedes into another vehicle. "The driver of the Mercedes then proceeded to cross the road to assault one of the Just Stop Oil supporters, throwing him to the ground and punching and kicking him in the head," the group said.

Speaking after he was allegedly assaulted, activist Daniel Knorr, 21, a student from Oxford, said he had not contacted police, and did not plan to. “I feel no ill sentiment or ill will against him. It’s a difficult situation for anyone to be in and it's bound to create frustration.

"I can tell with the fact that he’d just been in a car accident, he was very stressed," he said. "Really, if the police spent more time going after the people at the top who got us in this mess - the people in government and at the top of these fossil fuel companies who are destroying the lives of future generations, as well as the media moguls who create this toxic media space to keep us divided - instead of going after people like this man, I’d be much happier."

Mr Knorr added: "Then marching in the road wouldn’t even be necessary.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Just Stop Oil said supporters spray-painted the department responsible for licensing over 100 new licences for oil gas and coal exploration in the UK - the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, using a fire extinguisher to cover the department's headquarters in orange paint.

The activists are demanding that the UK government immediately halt all new licences and consents for new oil, gas and coal projects - which are responsible for substantial amounts of the greenhouse gas emissions that are the driving force behind global climate change.