April 10 (UPI) — A top ranking official with Greenpeace UK has been arrested for dumping ‘blood-red dye’ in fountain outside the U.S. Embassy in London, officials announced Thursday.
Will McCallum, a co-executive director of Greenpeace UK, was one of six people taken into custody for protesting U.S. arms sales to Israel, the company said in a statement.
The red dye highlights the death and devastation caused in Gaza as a direct result of the US’ continued sale of weapons, ammunition, and military hardware to Israel, the company said.
“The red dye highlights the death and devastation caused in Gaza as a direct result of the US’ continued sale of weapons, ammunition and military hardware to Israel,” the statement said.
The protestors were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and conspiracy to cause criminal damage, the Metropolitan Police said, according to the BBC. McCallum faces a maximum prison sentence of 10 years, local media reported.
The embassy said that the dye “damaged a 1.5 million gallon water supply on the property, wasting a local environmental resource,” the embassy said in a statement.
The embassy said that while it supports the right to peaceful protest, it strongly condemns any acts of violence or property damage. Greenpeace said the dye is non-toxic, biodegradable and designed to wash away naturally over time.
The protestors were disguised as delivery couriers on bicycles with trailers and dumped nearly 80 gallons of the dye into a publicly available area of a pond which features a flowing waterfall outside the embassy. It is accessible via a public footpath.
