Louis McKechnie, 23, is an animal rights activist. A person I admire. He felt it necessary to cause criminal damage to the Victoria Memorial water feature in London, near Buckingham Palace, by throwing dye into the water which stained the stonework. He probably was unaware that his actions would stain the stonework. Often these activists use dyes and paints that are not permanent.
Louis was protesting under the banner of Animal Rebellion, a group linked to Just Stop Oil. He was arrested with four others: Christopher Bennett and Riley Ings, Claire Smith and Rachel Steele.
He was found guilty at Southwark Crown Court (south London) of causing £7,080’s worth of damage when protesting about the crimes perpetrated by the royal family against animals and the planet. through the use of its land for animal agriculture and through hunting. I have mentioned before that the royal family have been inculcated with the notion that hunting animals is okay. They shoot birds for instance. Cruel.
Louis was unsurprised at his guilty verdict as he finds the British criminal system biased and designed to maintain the status quo.
He feels no guilt for his actions:
I’m going to be honest; for a long time, I haven’t seen the justice system as especially just. The system in this country seems rigged for the start. I am not surprised by the verdict, I don’t feel any guilt for my actions but don’t expect the courts to actually be about justice and truth, it’s about maintaining the status quo. While this is generally the result we expect when we take these actions – you know, I take responsibility and accountability for what I did – I feel no guilt and I think it was the correct thing to do at the time.
He will be sentenced on October 18th.
I admire the guy. He is fighting for animal rights and welfare at considerable risk to himself. He has to pay personally and he does so in the interest of animal welfare. Brave and admirable.
I mean he damaged a fountain which I expect will repair itself over time. What’s more important: a dead object or living, sentient creatures?
