(Milk being poured out in Selfridges on 7/10/22)
Sofia Fernandes Pontes and Steve Bone were both charged with criminal damage, both over and under £5000; and theft.
Animal Rebellion claims in police interviews Sofia and Steve were informed they’d caused over £100,000 of damage to carpets at Fortnum & Mason.This information was also heard in Highbury Corner Magistrates Court earlier today. [1]
The pair took nonviolent direct action on 7/10/22 at Fortnum & Mason and Selfridges, emptying milk onto the floor in both shops. They were later arrested on 8/10/22 in Green Park, as hundreds of people gathered to peacefully march through Central London. [2]
(Video Showing Milk Being Poured Onto The Carpet In Fortnum & Mason)
Two supporters of Animal Rebellion have been charged by the Metropolitan Police after pouring milk onto the floor of two high-end department stores in London last Friday (7/11/22). They took action to highlight the need for a just and sustainable transition towards a plant-based food system and a mass rewilding programme.
(Charge Sheet Showing The Charges Against Sofia Fernandes Pontes)
Sofia Fernandes Pontes, one of those charged, a student from Madeira, has said,
“My actions on Friday reflect the severity of the climate, ecological, and animal emergencies, but they also represent the massive hope I have that we can turn the corner and step into a better world. I took action because I believe change is possible, but only if Liz Truss and Ranil Jayawardena step up and make the bold decision to support a plant-based future.
“I am completely willing to face the consequences of my action and let a jury of ordinary people decide my fate. I trust in the people of this country to recognise the changes that need to happen to bring us into an abundant, loving, and sustainable plant-based future.
“We could grow more nutritious food, in a sustainable way, whilst freeing up vast amounts of land for rewilding, if the government were to commit towards Animal Rebellion’s demands. The University of Harvard is telling us the UK could be carbon-negative if we make this change to support farmers and restore nature.”
Animal Rebellion has stated that its supporters will continue to take nonviolent direct action until the British Government enters negotiations for its two demands:
1. Government supports farmers and fishing communities to move away from animal farming and fishing as part of an urgent and immediate transition to a plant-based food system.
2. Government commits to rewild the freed-up land and ocean as part of a broader programme of wildlife restoration and carbon drawdown
In 2018, comprehensive research from the University of Oxford showed that 76% of the land currently used for food production would be freed-up by a global transition to plant-based production [3]. This land could be rewilded and begin carbon drawdown, mitigating the worst impacts of climate breakdown. A 2019 Harvard University report on UK farmland and food production from Helen Harwatt and Matthew N. Hayek also concluded that the UK would be carbon-negative if it completely transitioned to a plant-based food system [4].
The action was part of Animal Rebellion’s demands for a plant-based future, which were announced on 23/05/22 [5].
Animal Rebellion is a mass movement using nonviolent civil disobedience to call for a just, sustainable plant-based food system.
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Notes To Editors:
[2] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/selfridges-fortnum-mason-essex-animal-rebellion-london-b2199571.html