Climate activists trying to spray fake blood at the British Treasury building Thursday almost immediately lost control of their hose, coating the street and sidewalk in red paint.
Video shows the hose shooting out of the protesters' hands and flailing wildly in the street, spurting gallons of red paint onto the road and drenching bystanders, before a protester finally shuts it off.
The group, "Extinction Rebellion," said it sprayed 1,800 liters of red paint at the Treasury, although much seemed to miss its target. The group protested the Treasury for what it viewed as stymying other government agencies' efforts to combat climate change, displaying a sign reading "Stop Funding Climate Death."
It is unclear how coating a street in paint or driving a fire truck helped the environment. The Treasury is located in London, between Buckingham Palace and British Parliament.
Climate change activists spray red paint at the facade of the British Treasury https://t.co/5FLMwEc2R9 pic.twitter.com/qU6YSmOAYz
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 3, 2019
"It doesn’t see that eternal economic growth leads to climate death," a protester named Ben told Reuters. "The red symbolizes the people dying now in the global south and also the people who are going to start dying from climate change all around the world if we do nothing."
Police arrested four people for the stunt "on suspicion of criminal damage."
One bystander told the Guardian the protesters were "morons."
"You morons, you put everyone in jeopardy," he said.