Two years have passed since members of the French group Riposte Alimentaire threw pumpkin soup at Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” in the Louvre Museum, Paris. The attack, which occurred on January 28, 2024, left the painting unharmed due to protective armored glass.
This incident followed a similar event in May 2022 when an individual disguised as disabled approached the “Mona Lisa” in a wheelchair and smeared a pastry on its surface while shouting: “Think of planet Earth, there are people destroying it.” In both cases, the painting was shielded from damage by its glass barrier. The perpetrator of the earlier attack was taken to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation.
The attacks on artwork did not stop with these incidents. In 2022, coordinated demonstrations targeted other famous pieces across Europe. Members of Just Stop Oil carried out several actions in the United Kingdom that year, including one against Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” and another involving Vincent Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers.”
More recently, activists have shifted their focus toward energy infrastructure. Earlier this month, Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group), a German climate activist organization, set fire to a power station near Berlin. According to CNN reporting, about 100,000 residents experienced prolonged blackouts during cold weather—an outage described as possibly Berlin’s longest since World War II (https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/15/europe/germany-berlin-power-outage-vulkangruppe-climate-intl/index.html). The mayor of Berlin labeled this action as terrorism.
In September 2025 and March 2024, Vulkangruppe was also linked to other attacks on power stations around Berlin—including one that disrupted operations at a Tesla gigafactory—and has been credited by German authorities with similar acts targeting transportation and communications infrastructure dating back over a decade.
Such anti-energy activism is not limited to Europe. In the United States, organizations like Greenpeace have faced legal consequences for their involvement in pipeline protests. A North Dakota jury recently awarded $667 million in damages against Greenpeace USA after finding it had defamed Energy Transfer during demonstrations against the Dakota Access Pipeline (https://capitalresearch.org/article/influencewatch-podcast-361-justice-for-greenpeace/).
Other environmental groups such as Extinction Rebellion continue to advocate for drastic changes to economic systems under the banner of environmental protection (https://capitalresearch.org/article/unabombers-without-bombs/).
“Greenpeace is facing a $667 million civil damage award for torts committed during a violent pipeline protest. So, what are we to make of the scores of other nonprofits that signed on to support Greenpeace’s behavior?”
“Bailing Out Greenpeace: Lefty Donors Who Could Pay Up for Dakota Access Damages: An analysis of Greenpeace’s big funders before, during and even after the violent attacks on the Dakota Access pipeline.”
“VIDEO: From activism to illegality: nonprofits and illegal protests”
“On its anniversary, is Greenpeace sailing on its final voyage?: Sunday is the anniversary of Greenpeace’s founding. But the anti-energy NGO has lately been sailing on some rough waters.”
“It can seem infuriating: Leftist demonstrators wantonly violate the law, only to face no or negligible consequences because the powers that be either support or refuse to oppose their disruptive tactics. But as a famous progressive politician was fond of saying, ‘The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice.’ Last month, a North Dakota jury awarded Energy Transfer, the company building the Dakota Access Pipeline, $667 million in justice, holding that Greenpeace USA had defamed the company during demonstrations against the pipeline. Joining us to discuss the protests, the verdict, and what it might mean for leftist activism going forward is James Meigs, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.”
“Another environmentalist group is hard at work, disturbing the peace and proselytizing a new world order destined to save the environment. All that’s needed to solve the problem is to abandon economic systems that lift nations out of poverty and to accept a dramatic decrease in global standard of living. Meet Extinction Rebellion.”
“The Unabomber manifesto was published 30 years ago this week. But Ted Kaczynski’s hostility to industrial civilization has outlived his capture and his death.”
“Extinction Rebellion Member and Initiator of ESG Wars Wants a Truce”
Profiles detailing these organizations’ activities can be found through InfluenceWatch:
Extinction Rebellion (https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/extinction-rebellion/)
Just Stop Oil (https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/just-stop-oil/)
Greenpeace (https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/greenpeace-international/)
