Climate Activist Sets Himself on Fire at the Laver Cup

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LONDON — A protester set hearth to his arm after operating onto the court docket throughout a match on Friday on the Laver Cup tennis competitors, gorgeous the capability crowd at London’s O2 Enviornment and briefly setting hearth to the enjoying floor.

Sporting a white T-shirt studying “Finish UK Personal Jets,” the protester, a younger man, appeared on the court docket in the course of the afternoon singles match between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Diego Schwartzman. Sitting down close to the web on Schwartzman’s facet of the court docket, the person briefly set hearth to his proper arm, and to the court docket, as safety officers ran towards him.

The protester appeared to right away remorse the choice to set hearth to himself, and shortly put out the flames along with his left hand whereas a small hearth burned on the court docket subsequent to him. A employees member smothered the on-court hearth with a swimsuit jacket whereas the protester calmly waited to be eliminated.

As soon as the hearth was out, and with Schwartzman preserving a secure distance, three safety guards carried the person off the court docket to a refrain of boos from the group.

“He got here out of nowhere,” Tsitsipas mentioned. “I do not know what this was about. I’ve by no means had this occur in a match earlier than. I hope he’s all proper.”

The person didn’t appear to be significantly injured.

Disrupting high-profile sporting occasions has grow to be an more and more frequent tactic by environmental activists in Europe over the previous yr, and a few have succeeded in drawing consideration to their causes in a wide range of methods, together with attaching themselves to purpose posts at Premier League soccer matches; breaching the court docket on the French Open tennis championships; and blocking the trail of biking’s Tour de France.

The incident on the Laver Cup appeared to go away the court docket undamaged, and play resumed after a short delay. Tsitsipas went on to defeat Schwartzman in straight units.

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