Two Wimbledon matches were briefly halted on Wednesday when protestors rushed the court and covered it with orange confetti.
The first incident occurred during a match between Sho Shimabukuro and Grigor Dimitrov on Court 18. In the second game of the second set, Grigor’s serve was interrupted by a man and a woman running from the stands. Both threw confetti and pieces from a jigsaw puzzle. While the woman was quickly escorted out by security, the man sat down by the net and waited for security to approach him.
It was soon revealed that the two individuals were members of Just Stop Oil, a UK-based environmentalist group known for making statements through public acts of vandalism. The man was also wearing a shirt that said, “Just Stop Oil.”
Metropolitan Police later confirmed the two were taken into police custody.
A man and a woman are now in police custody.https://t.co/7QhprAJqbE
— Metropolitan Police Events (@MetPoliceEvents) July 5, 2023
Just a couple hours later, another Just Stop Oil activist stormed the exact same court during a match between Katie Boulter and Daria Saville. The lone activist ran to the net throwing confetti and puzzle pieces in the air before he was surrounded by guards.
Further inspection of the scenes revealed that the puzzle pieces thrown were from an Official Wimbledon jigsaw puzzle, meaning the protestors likely bought them from the event gift shop not long before committing the acts.
They threw the official Wimbledon puzzles on the court. pic.twitter.com/VED5UTfYI5
— Del🇪🇺 mastodon.world/@Stroppa_Del (@Stroppa_Del) July 5, 2023
Watch above via BBC Sport
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