Just Stop Oil activist who was punched and kicked to the floor by furious motorist says he has ‘no ill sentiment’ against him after attacker accused eco-mob of ‘causing their car to crash’ with pregnant woman inside
- WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT
- Daniel Knorr, 21, a student from Oxford, was assaulted during London protest
- A member of the public was filmed punching and kicking the activist in street
- Do you know the motorist? Please contact: [email protected]
The Just Stop Oil protester who was punched and kicked to the floor by an irate motorist has insisted ‘he wishes him well’.
Daniel Knorr, 21, a student from Oxford, had previously gained notoriety after being carried off the pitch at Lord’s by England cricketer Jonny Bairstow.
Yesterday he was punched to the floor and kicked as he lay cowering there during a slow march protest in South Kensington.
Moments earlier a silver Mercedes had crashed on the other side of the road and a woman had run out of the car and screamed at them ‘Stop now, I’m pregnant’.
She was followed by a man who had bellowed ‘Stop now, stop recording, you little s***’ before punching Mr Knorr in the face then kicking him on the floor.
But the protester, a biochemistry student who was arrested in April for trying to scale and cover Dippy the Diplodocus with orange powder at a Coventry gallery, said he bore no ill will towards his attacker.
He said: ‘I haven’t said anything to the police and I don’t plan to, but I’m afraid that the police might go after this man.
England cricket star Jonny Bairstow was hailed ‘a hero’ for carrying Daniel Knorr off the pitch at Lord’s last month
A woman was seen remonstrating with the activists, explaining to them that she is pregnant
‘I feel no ill sentiment or ill will against him. It’s a difficult situation for anyone to be in and it’s bound to create frustration.
READ MORE: Student, 21, who was carried off Lord’s pitch by Jonny Bairstow in Just Stop Oil’s Ashes protest grew up in £5.2m house
‘I can tell with the fact that he’d just been in a car accident, he was very stressed.’
In response, Just Stop Oil said: ‘Daniel was assaulted while marching this morning, and remained nonviolent throughout.
‘Disruption is difficult, but it’s necessary.’
A witness to the incident told MailOnline: ‘The protest was just like so many others we’ve seen in London with a string of people in orange bibs blocking two lanes of the street and marching slowly.
‘The two lanes on the other side of the road weren’t blocked but were going slowly as people looked at what was happening.
‘A silver car I think must have been trying to switch lanes and he got hit at low speed by a van behind them on its driver side.
‘A woman got out of the car and she was shouting at the protesters and then a man got out too and he just rushed over and started attacking the guy who seemed to be leading the Just Stop Oil group.
A furious man can then be seen leaving a stranded car and attacking an activist
The man punches an activist to the ground and kicks him
‘He punched him to the ground and then kicked him when it was on the ground. It was quite shockingly violent.
‘It happened really quickly.
READ MORE: Just Stop Oil eco zealot, 21, tackled by cricket star Jonny Bairstow for disrupting the Ashes is a biochemistry student who was grabbed by security for jumping the barrier at Dippy the Dinosaur exhibition
‘I’m not sure why they were so angry but I suspect they blamed the protest for causing the prang – and the one who got attacked had his own phone out so they may have thought he was filming them.
‘As I had been filming myself I didn’t want to stick around myself in case he turned on me so I didn’t see how it ended beyond the man in the red hat then talking to the van driver,, presumably to pass on insurance details.
‘The whole episode was insane.’
Mr Knorr, a 21-year-old Biochemistry undergraduate, was one of three people arrested after he ran on to the world’s most famous cricket ground while hurling orange powder into the air in June.
England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow was forced to take matters into his own hands by physically stopping him and carrying him across the outfield.
Knorr, who was also arrested in April trying to scale and cover ‘Dippy the Diplodocus’ with orange powder at a Coventry gallery, looked utterly delighted as a quietly determined Bairstow lugged him away before dumping him on the boundary for security to deal with. Knorr was then dragged off by police.
The group targeted five locations in the capital yesterday, resulting in pedestrians pushing them into the road and Sky Sports’ Chris Kamara being delayed for a TV appearance.
The day began with activists targeting the Department for Energy Security for Net Zero with with orange fire extinguishers resulting in their arrests.
Police officers picked up Knorr and carried him away after Bairstow intervened
Daniel Knorr is led away from a Coventry museum by a police officer following the failed stunt to scale and cover ‘Dippy the Diplodocus’ with orange powder in April
Knorr lay motionless after being tackled by security guards, who were able to confiscate a rucksack filled with paint under Dippy in April
So far, the Metropolitan Police have been called to other events in the capital at Marylebone Road, Parliament Square, Westminster Bridge, Victoria Street and on Vauxhall Bridge Road – and in all cases police issued section 12 notices to demonstrators.
Amongst those caught in the traffic chaos was Sky Sports commentator Chris Kamara who tweeted: ‘Been stuck in traffic on the Vauxhall Bridge in London with the Oil Protesters doing their stuff. Missed my 9am call time.’
Elsewhere, a driver at the end of his tether was recorded pushing two activists into each other on a busy London road after the group deployed another slow march.
Two activists from the eco-zealot group were also seen dousing the government building in Whitehall with the orange spray as a protest against the government’s use of fossil fuels.
After their messy protest, the two demonstrators sat down in front of the paint splattered glass building and remained motionless.
Hundreds of Just Stop Oil protesters descended on the streets of London this morning
In ugly scenes elsewhere in London a pedestrian was seen pushing protesters out of the road
The scuffle caused two protesters to topple over in the middle of the busy highway
Sky Sports’ Chris Kamara was caught up in Just Stop Oil chaos this morning
The pundit tweeted that due to the disruption he had missed his TV call time
Pictures then showed police officers swooping in to detain the two activists, who have been identified as Matthew Cunningham, 25, and Imogen May, 24.
In a short statement, the group said: ‘This morning, 2 supporters of Just Stop Oil have painted the department responsible for issuing over 100 new oil and gas licences in the UK.’
READ MORE: Just Stop Kammy? Eco-zealots plaguing London’s streets block football legend Chris Kamara
Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps then accused Just Stop Oil protesters of ‘illegal criminal damage’
Mr Shapps, responding to questions about the paint protest on LBC during a round of broadcast interviews, said: ‘It is illegal criminal damage and I will leave that to the authorities.’
Mr Cunningham, in another video posted by JSO, said: ‘This department oversees our energy policy and we know from last month that the Climate Change Committee, the Government’s independent watchdog for climate change policy, denounced the Government’s efforts against climate change.
‘They said that they were far less sure that the Government would achieve net zero than it had been just one year ago.
‘And they specifically said that the Government needs to stop issuing new oil and gas licences because it is not compatible with a net zero future.’
Ms May said the department is ‘failing on their only purpose’ and that the climate situation is ‘getting really dangerous’.
Conservative Party chairman Greg Hands, posting a picture on social media of Westminster Bridge being blocked by JSO supporters, called the demonstration ‘unacceptable’.
Two Just Stop Oil supporters have painted the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
The activists (pictured being detained) are demanding that the UK government immediately halt all new licences and consents for new oil, gas and coal projects
The stunts are just the latest example of the group’s antics in London – in a week that has already seen members of the public lose their patience and confront them.
The group- who have been causing chaos on the streets of London for over 10 weeks – has said that this week will be ‘its biggest protest ever.’
Yesterday, a slow march on London’s Blackfriars Bridge was, however, met with fury from a skateboarder who began swinging at the eco-campaigners with his board.
The skateboarder was filmed repeatedly swinging his board at protestors wearing luminous orange jackets, in a furious confrontation on Blackfriars Bridge.
The man, wearing a burgundy cap and matching shorts, attempted to hit the protestors before throwing a bag at them.
The incident was part of the group’s wider campaign to ‘paralyse London’ on a day that saw them slow march across 15 separate locations.
Undeterred by the groups efforts, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak yesterday said he would not be giving in to the ‘eco zealots’ threatening to disrupt the ‘British summer’.
He instead claimed the UK would ‘transition to net zero’ in a ‘sensible, practical way’ as he argued Just Stop Oil’s protests are not a ‘constructive way to tackle climate change’.
Following the stunt officers were seen removing the detritus from the scene of the Whitehall building
The march was met with fury from a skateboarder who began swinging at the eco-campaigners with his board
The environmental group has repeatedly hit the headlines this summer after protesters campaigning under Just Stop Oil’s banner halted play at Wimbledon and interrupted a live Channel 4 recording.
Just Stop Oil’s demonstrations have repeatedly caused clashes with furious members of the public who have been seen ripping up the protesters signs and throwing them off the road.
The eco-mob’s protests see them block traffic by walking slowly down main roads in luminous orange vests.
MailOnline has approached the Metropolitan Police for more information.
A Just Stop Oil climate activist (L) is detained by a police officer as members of the group marched slowly in Parliament Square today
Just Stop Oil protestors comply with Police and leave Kennington Road today
Just Stop Oil hold a slow march protest on Kennington Road this morning
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