Apparently, those folks at Greenpeace never thought to consider that storming a trading floor populated primarily by young, testosterone laden traders might not be a good idea. The Greenpeace gang did it anyways, they took on the petroleum exchange in London yesterday and literally got their asses kicked by traders. On the best of days a trading floor looks like a WWE event, I think Greenpeace gets a Darwin award for this stunt.
Link via instapundit: Times Online - Britain.
“We bit off more than we could chew. They were just Cockney barrow boy spivs. Total thugs,” one protester said, rubbing his bruised skull. “I’ve never seen anyone less amenable to listening to our point of view.”
keep in mind that the protestors gained unauthorized access to the trading floor and stormed it with bullhorns and a variety of props... they were not exactly on a mission to "have their point of view heard", they attempted to shut down the traders paycheck for the day.
... Protesters conceded that mounting the operation after lunch may not have been the best plan. “The violence was instant,” Jon Beresford, 39, an electrical engineer from Nottingham, said.
“They grabbed us and started kicking and punching. Then when we were on the floor they tried to push huge filing cabinets on top of us to crush us.”
Last night Greenpeace said two protesters were in hospital, one with a suspected broken jaw, the other with concussion.
Aren't there more effective (and safer!) ways to make a point? If they want the oil companies (and politicians, media, the general public...) to take them seriously, surely a stunt like this would never work! I actually think that Greenpeace tackles some important issues, some of which I agree with, but it's got to be done professionally. Stunts like this can only be counter-productive.
What's worse is that even getting beaten up doesn't seem to have beaten any sense into their heads. ("Thugs"? You were tresspassing on someone else's turf, you idiots! I thought the Times report on this episode was steadfastly and almost overly nonpartisan.)
Link: Venture Chronicles by Jeff Nolan: Greenpeace gets a can of whoopass opened on them
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