A man was arrested after encroaching onto the pitch during the Everton v Newcastle United Premier League fixture tonight (Thursday 17 March).
At around 8.55pm a man disrupted the match by running onto the pitch. The man used cable ties to tie himself by his neck to the goal post at the Howard Kendall Gwladys Street End.
The protester was wearing a t-shirt with the name of the campaign group “Just Stop Oil” which is a coalition of groups “taking direct action to demand that the government immediately halt all future licensing and consents for the exploration, development and production of fossil fuels in the UK.”
The group released a statement that read: “A young supporter of Just Stop Oil ran onto the pitch during the Everton vs Newcastle United game to draw attention to the group’s demand that the Government ends all new fossil fuel supply projects.”
The protester named by the group as ‘Louis’ said, “It’s 2022 and it’s time to look up, time to step up and not stand by. It’s time to act like it’s an emergency.
“Report after report is telling me that my future is going to be dire, and my government is telling me not to worry and pay into a pension.
“My generation is being shafted — we face a cost of living crisis, a housing crisis, a fuel crisis and an unlivable planet — but we have a choice. We can choose to highlight that our climate is breaking down, we can choose to resist this government that is betraying us, we can choose to step up and not stand by.”
The suspect, a 21-year-old man, has been arrested on suspicion of pitch encroachment. He is now in police custody.
The game resumed and 14 minutes of stoppage time was added because of the protest. Everton’s Alex Iwobi scored the only goal of the game in the 99th minute.
A second man, 39 years, was arrested on suspicion of assault and of pitch encroachment and is also in police custody.
Image: GOOGLE
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