Two members of J ust Stop Oil , a U.K. environmental activist group were arrested at Wimbledon 2023. The members of the activist group created disruption during a match by running onto and throwing orange confetti on the court.
Notably, the protestors have earlier created disruptions at the World Snooker Championship along with the Ashes 2023 Test series. During the second game of the Ashes Test, a protester invaded the field and was thrown out by the Australian player Jonny Bairstow.
The protest was staged on Court 18 of Wimbledon, where Grigor Dimitrov took on Sho Shimabukuro in the tournament’s first round on Wednesday, July 5. The protestors have been identified as Deborah Wilde, a 68-year-old retired teacher, and Simon Milner-Edwards, a 66-year-old retired musician. Wearing t-shirts from Just Stop Oil, they threw confetti and one of them sat down on the court before they were hauled away by the security and later arrested.
According to the All-England Club, the protestors were arrested "on suspicion of aggravated trespass and criminal damage.” The next contest after the Dimitrov vs Shimabukuro game, between Katie Boulter and Daria Saville, was also interrupted by a man of the same environmental group. He was also taken off the court by security and later arrested.
Dimitrov, who ended up winning the game 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 expressed his disappointment over the court invasion and said, "Obviously it's not pleasant. At the end of the day, there is not much you can do. I think everyone in a way did their part as quickly as possible."
