Protester Who Tied Himself To Goal Post Receives Hundreds Of Death Threats

The protester who tied himself to a goalpost during a Premier League match, temporarily stopping the game in the process, says he's been receiving death threats after the incident.

Louis McKechnie was charged with pitch encroachment and aggravated trespass after the incident at the Everton V Newcastle United match at Goodison Park last month.

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The 21-year-old wore a bright orange top reading "Just stop oil" as he stepped onto the pitch half way through the game on 17 March.

It took seven minutes for staff to cut the zip tire off his neck with a massive pair of bolt cutters and once they managed this, they swiftly took him off pitch, where he was later arrested.

Speaking today (5 April) at a press conference for Just Stop Oil in London, he said: "They (fans) were chanting, screaming at me, hoping that it worked — hoping that my air was cut off long enough to really feel it.

"I hated the idea of ruining these people's favourite pastime, but these people have a right to know what is coming, that their lives are on the line too, so they can act accordingly.

"Since doing this action I've received hundreds of death threats. I don't think I can ever return to Liverpool or Newcastle again. 

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"I have court there in a few weeks and I expect I will be in quite a lot of trouble with the locals.

"But I will go there and be responsible for my actions. Whatever repercussions I face, I will face with my head up high."

The Bournemouth University mechanical engineering student was one of the 'Highway Nine' Insulate Britain protesters jailed for blocking the M25 last year. 

After serving half of a three-month prison sentence, he said: 'What comes next will make Insulate Britain look like child's play.' 

Speaking to LBC back in January, he added: "My experience of prison has emboldened me to take any future action regardless of whether prison is a consequence.

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"I feel that if we were able to save these 8,000 to 30,000 lives that are lost every year to fuel poverty, I'd spend the rest of my life in prison for that."

Mckechnie is also quoted as saying the following: "It's 2022 and it's time to look up, time to step up and not stand by. It's time to act like it's an emergency.

"Report after report is telling me that my future is going to be dire, and my government is telling me not to worry and pay into a pension.

"But we have a choice. We can choose to highlight that our climate is breaking down, we can choose to resist this government that is betraying us, we can choose to step up and not stand by."