Roadblocks, soup hurling, superglue … Just Stop Oil protests divide activists on direct action

Protesters hurled soup at Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers and glued themselves to the wall of the National Gallery in London. Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Guardian

Not for the first time this month, a protest by climate activists descended into acrimony and the threat of violence today. At midday, close to the Oval cricket ground in south London, a dozen or so Just Stop Oil activists brought weekend traffic to a halt.

Irate motorists dragged protesters aggressively off the road. “Move out the fucking way,” shouted one driver. “[I] swear to God, I’m going to crack some of you in the fucking face.”