LOL: Protesters paint Taylor Swift’s private jet and confuse it with another

So they set out to find Swift’s jet, broke into the airport and spray-painted the plane orange, confident that their gesture would attract enough attention to start a conversion to the need for a fossil fuel ban. Just Stop Oil had previously warned the UK government that if they did not see positive action towards the ban, they would step up their protests – that is, they would escalate their protests and certainly cause a stir in the process.

When reports emerged that Swift’s jet had landed at a private airfield at Stansted Airport, the group sent two activists to enter and carry out the spray-painting protest. The pair carried modified fire extinguishers and their smartphones and documented every step of the protest, from the moment they cut through the fence with an angle grinder to the moment they destroyed two planes and sat down to speak to the crowd before the police arrived.

Content filmed on that occasion was posted on social media with the caption “JUST STOP OIL PAINT FROM PRIVATE JETS, HOURS AFTER TAYLOR SWIFT’S LANDING.” Other captions included references from Swift’s songs and the statement that the group had targeted Swift’s private jet.

Photo: Just Stop Oil

The two protesters also identified themselves on camera and spoke about their motivation for breaking the law. They pointed to the huge carbon footprint of private jets and socioeconomic inequalities, saying the world is burning at a rapid pace while billionaires enjoy their lives without a thought for anyone else.

A major failure that puts Just Stop Oil in an even worse light

And here’s where it gets even more interesting: the protesters didn’t even get a proper grip on the plane. A spokesperson for the private airport told media that Swift’s jet wasn’t even there at the time of the incident and assured customers that increased security measures would prevent such a violation in the future.

“We are not against protests, but we will always intervene when criminal acts occur,” the spokesman said, adding that the two women were taken into custody on suspicion of criminal damage.

Photo: Just Stop Oil

Not only did they break the law, they also failed to find the right aircraft for their targeted protest. As you can see in the video below, one of the planes they spray-painted bears the tail number N1875A – a simple Google search would have revealed that it is a 2016 Gulfstream G650ER registered to a US bank.

Taylor’s current jet is registered as N621MM, while her previous jet had a more easily recognizable (and personalized) number, N898TS. Whether the two women knew this or did not know it before their protest is not even relevant anymore. This obvious “Don’t let facts get in the way of a scandalous story” Their actions and the recent damage to the iconic Stonehenge monument, which they also painted bright orange, have brought the group neither support nor new supporters on the Internet.

It is well known that drastic situations provoke equally drastic reactions. The pressing climate crisis could therefore – at least in theory – justify exaggerated protests aimed at destroying works of art or personal property. This is why we have seen such protests frequently in recent years.

Photo: Just Stop Oil

Still, there’s a valuable lesson to be learned: If you want to get the world’s attention, don’t come across as an idiot by claiming you damaged Swift’s private jet in protest when you couldn’t even find it where you thought it would be.