LONDON (Reuters) – Climate activists poured orange liquid latex over a humanoid robot at a Tesla store in London on Wednesday, in protest against the electric carmaker’s boss Elon Musk.
The billionaire, a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, has used his X platform to promote right-wing parties and figures in Britain, Germany, Italy and Romania, while in the U.S. he is leading a government-downsizing plan.
Two activists from Just Stop Oil climbed on to a display at the store in west London and poured liquid latex over the life-sized robot.
The robot, called Optimus, is still under development, but some Tesla stores display prototypes.
A number of Tesla outlets in the U.S. and parts of Europe have faced a mix of peaceful and disruptive protests in recent weeks over Musk’s recent political activity.
“Instead of using his wealth to help solve the climate crisis, reduce world hunger or find a cure for cancer, (Musk) is throwing hundreds of thousands of people out of work, jeopardising climate science and denying healthcare to vulnerable people,” one of the activists, Catherine Nash, 74, said in a statement.
Musk did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Just Stop Oil, which campaigns for Britain to end the extraction of oil and gas by 2030, is known for attention-grabbing protests.
Its activists have disrupted sports matches and theatre shows, defaced national monuments, blocked traffic by gluing themselves to roads and thrown soup over Van Gogh paintings.
(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar; editing by William James)
