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Just Stop Oil Sunflowers protest

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+#REDIRECT [[Just Stop Oil Sunflowers protest]]
-{{Short description|British climate activist}}
-{{Infobox person
+{{Rcat shell|
-| name               =
+{{R to related topic}}
-| birth_date         =
-| birth_place        = London
-| education          =
-| organisation       = [[Just Stop Oil]]
-| movement           = [[Climate activism]]
-| criminal_status    = Incarcerated
 }}
-'''Anna Holland''' is a British climate activist. Born in northwest England, they{{efn|Holland uses [[they/them]] pronouns.<ref name="nyt">{{cite web|title=Just Stop Oil Activists Sentenced for Attack on Van Gogh Painting|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/27/arts/design/van-gogh-soup-jail.html|work=[[New York Times]]|accessdate=2 October 2024|archive-date=2 October 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241002012037/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/27/arts/design/van-gogh-soup-jail.html|url-status=live}}</ref>|group=nb}} joined [[Just Stop Oil]] in June 2022 and met [[Phoebe Plummer]] at a [[Trafalgar Square]] roadblock that October. Later that month, the pair [[Just Stop Oil Sunflowers protest|threw soup]] at a painting of [[Sunflowers (van Gogh series)|''Sunflowers'']] by [[Vincent van Gogh]], prompting worldwide outrage and earning the pair [[Queerphobia|queerphobic]] abuse. The reaction from their family prompted Holland to retreat from frontline activism. In September 2024, [[Christopher Hehir]] sentenced Holland to 20 months in prison for their part in the act, prompting criticism.
-== Life and career ==
-Holland was born in northwest England and has a brother and two sisters.<ref name=":3" /> They identify as [[queer]] and are [[non-binary]] and [[bisexual]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=More or Less Mag |url=https://www.moreorlessmag.com/articles/souper-heroes |access-date=2024-12-02 |website=www.moreorlessmag.com}}</ref> Their mother was the headteacher at a Catholic primary school and their brother trained with the [[Royal Air Force]].<ref name=":3" /> They first became interested in activism in 2018 as a result of the [[2018–2023 United Kingdom higher education strikes|higher education strikes]] that begun that year<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Coldwell |first=Will |title=Just Stop Oil’s Anna Holland: Getting arrested makes us more sympathetic |url=https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/views/people/68351/just-stop-oils-anna-holland-getting-arrested-makes-us-more-sympathetic |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=www.prospectmagazine.co.uk |language=en}}</ref> and started reading poetry at [[Newcastle University]] in 2020. While there, their [[Instagram]] feed began reflecting the [[climate crisis]] and a friend told them they had been part of a [[Just Stop Oil]] blockade of an oil terminal, prompting them to attend a recruiting talk on campus. Its first speaker was Alex De Koning, who Holland began a relationship with on 27 September 2022.<ref name=":3" /> Holland joined Just Stop Oil in June 2022;<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-14 |title=Meet Britain's most controversial protesters |url=https://theface.com/society/meet-britains-most-controversial-protesters-just-stop-oil-van-gogh-insulate-britain-m24-captain-tom-moore-statue-poo |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=The Face |language=en-gb}}</ref> within a week after the talk, Holland was in London training to give similar talks,<ref name=":3" /> and within a week of that they had protested the [[Kingsbury Oil Terminal]].<ref name=":5" /> They were first arrested in August 2022.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2024-10-02 |title=The climate protesters who threw soup at a van Gogh painting. (And why they won’t stop.) |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/van-gogh-soup-anna-holland-phoebe-plummer-just-stop-oil-sunflowers-painting-protest-jail-sentence/ |access-date=2024-11-05 |website=POLITICO |language=en-GB}}</ref>
-In October 2022, after coverage of Just Stop Oil began tapering off, Holland began developing ways to return to the headlines with other members and saw [[Phoebe Plummer]] at a [[Trafalgar Square]] roadblock, where they were struck by Plummer's confidence and appearance. A few days later, they called Plummer, who like Holland used [[singular they]] pronouns, to ask if they wanted in on a top-secret plan they had devised. The pair visited the [[National Gallery]] in London on 13 and 14 October, with their first visit comprising an examination of the venue's security protocols.<ref name=":3" /> On their second, they threw [[Heinz]] Cream of [[Tomato soup|Tomato Soup]] at the painting and Plummer demanded to know whether art was worth more than life, food, and justice.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Kirk |first=Tristan |date=2024-09-27 |title=Just Stop Oil eco-activists jailed for throwing soup at Van Gogh's Sunflowers |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/van-gogh-sunflowers-just-stop-oil-national-gallery-heinz-soup-b1184555.html |access-date=2024-10-05 |website=Evening Standard |language=en}}</ref> Holland had rehearsed a speech as well, but was unable to deliver it due to Plummer going offscript and the guards clearing the gallery too quickly.<ref name=":3" />
-The protest caused worldwide outrage, though some were later assuaged by the fact that the painting was behind glass and was itself unharmed.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Whitworth |first=Damian |date=2024-07-29 |title='We're not criminals': what Just Stop Oil's poster girls told me |url=https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/celebrity/article/just-stop-oil-interview-phoebe-plummer-i-felt-empowered-after-throwing-soup-at-the-sunflowers-pspfvbs9r |access-date=2024-10-05 |website=www.thetimes.com |language=en}}</ref> The pair received significant [[queerphobic]] abuse from social media and right-wing newspapers following the incident, though their actions inspired several subsequent climate activists to throw food at paintings around the world.<ref>{{cite web |last=Wakefield |first=Lily |date=2022-12-29 |title=Climate activist who threw soup at Van Gogh urges LGBTQ+ people to take stand |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2022/12/29/just-stop-oil-van-gogh-sunflowers-soup-activist/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240409011119/https://www.thepinknews.com/2022/12/29/just-stop-oil-van-gogh-sunflowers-soup-activist/ |archive-date=9 April 2024 |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=PinkNews}}</ref> The pair were arrested and charged with criminal damage and aggravated trespass and were released on bail,<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Davies-Evitt |first=Dora |date=2022-10-14 |title=St Mary's Ascot alumni charged with Criminal Damage for Van Gogh soup stunt |url=https://www.tatler.com/article/van-gogh-sunflowers-painting-destroyed-by-soup |access-date=2024-10-05 |website=Tatler |language=en-GB}}</ref> following which they took the tube to a safe house still wearing their [[prison uniforms]].<ref name=":3" /> While there, they called their mother to tell her the news, only to find that she had found out from a reporter who had knocked on their neighbours' doors. The reaction from their family prompted Holland to retreat to backroom fundraising, and neither parent spoke to Holland until given reassurances that they would not reoffend.<ref name=":3" />
-Plummer and Holland faced a jury trial for their actions in July 2024 at [[Southwark Crown Court]], at which Holland was represented by [[Raj Chada]]. They faced Judge [[Christopher Hehir]], who dismissed several of Chada's defenses and forbade the pair from discussing climate change or trying to justify their actions, allowing them only to argue that they were not knowingly reckless at the time. He also repeatedly reminded the jury to disregard the defendants' reasoning and to not return a [[perverse verdict]]. They took just over two hours to return a guilty verdict, prompting Hehir to warn the pair to expect jail time.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2024-10-02 |title=The climate protesters who threw soup at a van Gogh painting. (And why they won't stop.) |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/van-gogh-soup-anna-holland-phoebe-plummer-just-stop-oil-sunflowers-painting-protest-jail-sentence/ |access-date=2024-10-05 |website=POLITICO |language=en-GB}}</ref> Immediately afterward, Holland launched a [[Crowdfunder]] appeal<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-27 |title=Poetry student jailed for throwing soup over Van Gogh painting {{!}} Write Out Loud |url=https://www.writeoutloud.net/public/blogentry.php?blogentryid=137736 |access-date=2024-12-02 |website=www.writeoutloud.net |language=en-gb}}</ref> and compiled a bucket list of things to do with De Koning.<ref name=":3" />
-The pair's sentencing date, 27 September 2024,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-27 |title=Just Stop Oil protesters jailed for throwing soup on Sunflowers |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly7zy3d3exo |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240930095246/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly7zy3d3exo |archive-date=30 September 2024 |access-date=2024-10-02 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> constituted Holland and De Koning's two year anniversary, though the pair celebrated it a week early due to the sentencing.<ref name=":3" /> In spite of Holland's mother writing to Hehir pleading for clemency and both a probation officer<ref name=":3" /> and an open letter coordinated by [[Greenpeace]] and [[Liberate Tate]] imploring him to do otherwise,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gayle |first=Damien |date=2024-09-26 |title=Artists plead for activists who threw soup on a Van Gogh to be spared jail |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/sep/26/artists-plead-for-just-stop-oil-activists-who-threw-soup-on-a-van-gogh-to-be-spared-jail |access-date=2024-10-02 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Hehir sentenced Holland to 20 months in prison,<ref name=":3" /> prompting activists from [[Last Generation (climate movement)|Last Generation]] to throw soup at the [[Embassy of the United Kingdom, Berlin]] and similar protests to take place outside the embassies of [[Amsterdam]], [[Paris]], and [[Rome]].<ref name=":9">{{Cite news |last=Walden |first=Celia |date=2024-09-30 |title=Soup-throwing protests only happen because we indulge Just Stop Oil's moral toddlers |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/30/just-stop-oil-soup-throwing-protests-moral-toddlerhood/ |access-date=2024-10-04 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref> His sentence was criticised by [[George Monbiot]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Monbiot |first=George |date=2024-10-01 |title=As the waters rise, a two-year sentence for throwing soup. That's the farcical reality of British justice |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/01/prison-uk-justice-system-fossil-fuel-industry |access-date=2024-10-02 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> and [[Nadya Tolokonnikova]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tolokonnikova |first=Nadya |date=2024-10-03 |title=Van Gogh is turning in his grave at the harsh Just Stop Oil sentence. I know, because I spoke to him |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/03/vincent-van-gogh-just-stop-oil-sentencing-nature-painter-protesters-soup-sunflowers |access-date=2024-10-04 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> though [[Celia Walden]] was less sympathetic.<ref name=":92">{{Cite news |last=Walden |first=Celia |date=2024-09-30 |title=Soup-throwing protests only happen because we indulge Just Stop Oil's moral toddlers |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/30/just-stop-oil-soup-throwing-protests-moral-toddlerhood/ |access-date=2024-10-04 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref>
-==Notes==
-{{notelist}}
-== References ==
-{{Reflist}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, Anna}}
+[[Category:21st-century English criminals]]
 [[Category:Living people]]
-[[Category:21st-century English criminals]]
 [[Category:Alumni of Newcastle University]]
 [[Category:British climate activists]]
 [[Category:English non-binary people]]
+[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales]]