Greenpeace Director Arrested for Pouring Red Dye Into US Embassy Pond In Protest Against Israel Arms Sales

William McCallum, the Co-Executive Director of Greenpeace UK was one of six people arrested outside the US embassy today following a peaceful protest in which activists dyed the embassy pond blood red in protest at the US government’s continued sale of arms to Israel.

McCallum has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause criminal damage. Five other activists were also arrested near the embassy on suspicion of criminal damage and conspiracy to cause criminal damage.

Last week the US senate voted down two resolutions introduced by Bernie Sanders to block $8.8 billion of new arms sales to Israel. The US is Israel’s largest arms supplier accounting for 66% of its imports according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Since taking office in January, Donald Trump has continued his predecessor’s policy of supplying weapons to Israel, approving nearly $12 billion in military sales, according to the US State Department

Twelve activists tipped the dye, which Greenpeace emphasised was non-toxic and biodegradable, from containers bearing the words ‘Stop Arming Israel’ into the pond located in front of the embassy building in Nine Elms, south-west London.

The containers were delivered to the Embassy on bicycles with trailers disguised as delivery bikes.

The protest follows Gaza’s health ministry issuing an urgent plea for medicine, saying Israel’s more than month-long blockade of the Strip has left hospitals with ‘dangerous’ and ‘unprecedented’ low stocks.

Sacha Deshmukh, CEO of Amnesty International UK said “Amnesty International has serious concerns about these reports. The right to peacefully protest is a fundamental human right. The police have an obligation to act proportionately and only make arrests when strictly necessary. It is not clear why they thought it was proportionate and necessary to arrest people for adding non-toxic biodegradable dye to a large open-air pond.

He added “Of even greater concern is the decision to arrest the CEO of a major national NGO on conspiracy charges. The use of conspiracy charges in this way is a growing trend in policing in this country, which turns participating in organising peaceful protests into a criminal act. It is having a chilling effect on free speech, and our right to peacefully protest.”

Areeba Hamid, co-executive director at Greenpeace UK, said “These arrests are further proof that the right to protest is under attack in the UK. This protest used biodegradable pond dye that is designed to disperse and wash away naturally. 

“We took this action because US weapons continue to fuel an indiscriminate war that’s seen bombs dropped on schools and hospitals, entire neighbourhoods blasted to rubble, and tens of thousands of Palestinian lives obliterated. As the biggest supplier of weapons to the Israeli military, the US government bears a heavy responsibility for the horrors unfolding in Gaza”.

Graeme Hayes a reader in Sociology at Aston University whose work focuses on the trials of climate activists said “The repeated use of conspiracy charging by legislators, prosecutors and police has been one of the main weapons used in order to stamp down on democratic peaceful disruptive protest. This has been particularly apparent since the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Bill of 2022 and the Public Order Act of 2023”.   He added that “It demonstrates that the government’s approach is just as authoritarian as the previous government’s”.

The Met police said “At 07:30hrs on Thursday, ten April officers on duty at the US Embassy in Nine Elms became aware of a group of protesters putting red dye into the pond at the side of the building.

“The group made off but officers responded quickly and carried out a search of the area. Six people have so far been arrested nearby on suspicion of criminal damage and conspiracy to cause criminal damage.

“The pond is accessible via a public footpath. There was no breach or attempted breach of the secure perimeter of the site.”