They had sprayed paint on a work of art in the name of the climate. Two environmental activists, who had carried out a punch action against a famous sculpture by Degas in a major museum in Washington, were taken into custody Friday and charged, the Justice Department said.
Timothy Martin and Joanna Smith, 53, are accused of smearing the Plexiglas plinth and cage that protects "The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer", on display at the National Gallery of Art, with paint on April 27.
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They turned themselves in to police on Friday morning and were placed under arrest. They will face charges of "insulting the United States" and "damage" to the museum, charges punishable by five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
According to the statement, they incurred $2,400 in costs to the museum, which had to remove the French sculptor's work from its exhibition for ten days.
"Our leaders need to take serious action"
The two activists had carried out their action, one of the first of its kind in North America, under the eye of the cameras of the daily Washington Post.
"Our leaders need to take serious action to tell the truth about what's happening to the climate," Joanna Smith said in the video, sitting at the foot of the small statue, her hands covered in red paint.
This "non-violent rebellion" was claimed by the small group Declare Emergency, which asked US President Joe Biden to declare a state of emergency on climate.
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In autumn 2022 mainly in Europe, environmental activists have multiplied actions targeting works of art to alert public opinion to climate change.
For example, they stuck their hands on a painting by Goya in Madrid, projected tomato soup on Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" in London and spread mashed potatoes on a masterpiece by Claude Monet in Potsdam, near Berlin.