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An ecological protester forced a stoppage in play and took center stage during a Premier League soccer match on Thursday night.
The man bound himself against a goalpost at Everton’s Goodison Park, wearing a bright orange shirt that read “Just Stop Oil.” A web address to the Facebook page of an ecological group bearing the same name was seen in white lettering on the shirt.
He stood with a zip-tie around his neck as officials rushed the area. The soccer match was halted for approximately eight minutes, according to The Mirror.
The protester was identified as Louis McKechnie, a 21-year-old mechanical engineering student, with a vast history of protests. The “Just Stop Oil” Facebook page documented McKechnie’s ploy.
“I’m about to disrupt a football match and I’m terrified,” Louis McKechnie said in the video, recorded ahead of the match between Everton and Newcastle United.
The campaign will mobilize “people from all walks of life to oppose the plans for new UK Oil fields” in 2022, according to the “Just Stop Oil” website.
McKechnie discussed the negative impact of oil as a video showed his invasion. He was arrested on suspicion of pitch encroachment, according to local police.
“I believe as many people as possible need to know what a possible future holds,” McKechnie said.
McKechnie was released from prison in January following a three-month sentence for a separate protest.
Source: NYPOST
