Wimbledon protesters arrested after delaying play with climate change demonstration during men’s singles match

Two protesters briefly halted play during a men’s singles first-round match at Wimbledon on Wednesday after storming onto the grass court, dispersing confetti and jigsaw pieces in the process. 

Wimbledon organizers released a statement Wednesday announcing that two Just Stop Oil protesters were arrested and charged with suspicion of aggravated trespass and criminal damage following a demonstration on Court 18. 

The group released a statement as well, sharing a video of the moment and the purpose behind the demonstration. 

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“At 14:08, two Just Stop Oil supporters ran onto Court 18 at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, disrupting the match between Sho Shimabukuro and Grigor Dimitrov by throwing environmentally friendly orange confetti glitter and jigsaw pieces onto the courts before being removed.”

“Today’s action comes as the @metoffice confirmed on Monday that this June has been the hottest on record, with the average monthly temperature of 15.8°C exceeding the previous record set in 1976 by 0.9°C.”

The statement continued, “The @Wimbledon Championships are currently under fire after signing a sponsorship deal with @Barclays, who have given £30 billion to oil and gas companies, including @exxonmobil, @Shell and @TotalEnergies, in the last two years.”

The match was briefly delayed because of the interruption and again due to the weather. 

The protest follows organizers announcing days earlier that security measures would be beefed up in an attempt to thwart environmental protest, Reuters reported. 

“As we’ve seen in other sporting events, we can’t guarantee anything, but we are extremely confident that the measures we’ve got in place are the right measures, and we’re ready to deal with something if it happens,” said Sally Bolton, chief executive of the All England Club.