Two eco-clowns have been have been charged and arrested by police after they poured porridge and jam on a bust of Queen Victoria and spray painted the word c*** on the plinth.
Sorcha Ni Mhairtin, 30, and Hannah Taylor, 23 also glued themselves to the bust’s plinth at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.
The women are part of This Is Rigged and said the protest, which took place at around midday, was against increasing food insecurity.
Ms Ni Mhairtin, an Irish activist and community food worker in Glasgow, said: ‘We refuse to be dragged back to the Victorian era.
‘Diseases of starvation including scurvy and rickets are on the rise.’
Police Scotland have arrested two women, Sorcha Ni Mhairtin, 30, and Hannah Taylor, 23, who poured porridge and jam on a bust of Queen Victoria and spray painted the word c*** on the plinth
Eco-protestors from This Is Rigged, a ‘direct action campaign targeting the Scottish government’, today staged the bizarre protest in Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow
She continued: ‘Freedom begins with breakfast and if you can’t understand that, we’ll shove it in your face.
‘Food is a human right, and we call out the rotten systems under which we are suffering.’
The stunt at the venue came on the same day as other activists from This Is Rigged disrupted the World Athletic Championships in Glasgow by running onto the track with Palestinian flags before they were removed by security.
Other stunts carried out by the group this year include occupying the royal dining room at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. During that protests they crossed a security barrier and sat down at the table, before eating food out of plastic containers and drinking tea from flasks.
Their actions meant an entire wing of the royal household had to be temporarily closed to the public.
This is Rigged has said it will continue to carry out similar actions until its demands are met, which include supermarkets reducing the price of baby formula to March 2021 prices and the Scottish Government funding and implementing a community food hub in every 500 households in Scotland.
A spokesperson from Police Scotland: ‘Around 11.55am on Sunday March 3 2024, police were called to a report of a protest and alleged vandalism within Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow.
‘Two women, aged 23 and 30 years, have been arrested and charged following the incident.
‘They have been released on an undertaking to appear at Glasgow Sheriff Court at a later date.
‘A report will be submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.’
Police arresting one of the This Is Rigged protesters. A spokesperson from Police Scotland: ‘Around 11.55am on Sunday March 3 2024, police were called to a report of a protest and alleged vandalism within Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow’
The two protesters smeared porridge and jam on a bust of Queen Victoria. The women are part of This Is Rigged and said the protest was against increasing food insecurity
This Is Rigged wrote in a social media post: ‘We refuse to be dragged back to the Victorian Era. Diseases such as rickets which once haunted Victorian slums are now on a sharp rise in Scotland, with 356 diagnoses in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area last year.
‘This crisis in public health is a direct result of our government’s chronic inaction on the crisis of food insecurity in Scotland, caused by greed and profiteering and exacerbated by climate collapse.
‘We are calling on the Scottish government to meet with us to discuss the implementation of a community food hub per every 500 households in Scotland. We are doing this to get your attention.’
The art gallery and museum were temporarily closed, but have since partially reopened its doors.
Officials are still assessing the damage done to the bust of Queen Victoria, and have kept the room it was kept in closed.
The art gallery and museum were temporarily closed, but have since partially reopened its doors
A spokesperson for Glasgow Life told the National: ‘On Police Scotland’s advice, we temporarily closed Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum earlier this afternoon after climate protestors covered a bust of Queen Victoria in porridge and jam and spray-painted an offensive word on the plinth below the statue. Two people were subsequently arrested.
‘The museum has since reopened, however the Expression Court where the statue is displayed will remain partially closed for the rest of the day while our conservation team works to ascertain the extent of any damage. The profanity has been removed.’
The campaign group has been growing in size and capability over the past few months.
Today, several This Is Rigged protestors ran onto the track at the World Athletics Championships to show their solidarity with Palestine
Two young activists ran to sit on the track with a Palestinian flag
They were then dragged away by security guards
Two young activists ran to sit on the track, before security guards dragged them away.
Last month, activists stages a sit-in in royal dining room at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.
Nine protestors entered the palace waving banners that had slogans in Gaelic including ‘is treasa tuath na tighearna’, which means ‘the people are mightier than a lord.’
Another sign read: ‘Change begins in the kitchen, not the boardroom.’
Protestors crossed the barrier to the room, sat at the table and started eating food out of plastic containers and drinking tea out of flasks, forcing the wing to be temporarily closed.
The group has three key demands: It is asking for supermarkets to slash the price of baby products, for the Scottish government to fully fund a ‘community food hub’ for every 500 households, and for the Scottish government to create a fair and fully funded transition for Scotland’s oil workers.
