The below phone message is from Morgan Trowland, the 40-year old civil engineer recently imprisoned for three years after suspending himself and a Just Stop Oil banner over the Dartford Crossing of the M25 motorway, prompting the police to close the road for 40 hours.
Recorded a week ago, I found it a moving, powerful listen, and in light of the news that he has been threatened with losing all privileges in prison if he speaks to the media from there, I decided to share his voice here.
I should stress that I have no direct relationship with him or his co-defendant Marcus Decker (similarly sentenced to two years and seven months for his own participation).
But it’s clear to me that they’ve done their bit, for now, and if the authorities feel sufficiently worried to make such threats — “oh my God, the house is on fire; quick, destroy all the fire alarms” — to prevent the truth about the protestors’ motivations getting out, it behooves the rest of us to spread the word about their bravery, their selflessness, and the reasons underpinning their actions.
Despite the media framing, let’s be very clear that these are not eccentric individuals, alone in their obscure reasoning. Trowland’s conclusions are based in the accepted science, and reflect those of the more than 2,000 people arrested for actions highlighting the unfolding omnicide, just in the UK in the past year. That’s an arrest every four hours or so, 24/7, year-round.
And that’s without even mentioning the major civil resistance campaigns also unfolding in Germany, France, Italy and Sweden, to name a few; and the indigenous-led campaigns in the majority world, working to shut down fossil fuel extraction; and… ; and…
The killing of our collective future is certainly not going unchallenged.
12th May update — the National Union of Journalists have written to the Ministry of Justice expressing concern at Chelmsford Prison’s outrageous ban on Decker and Trowland communicating with the media
4th June update — The Home Secretary has now threatened Marcus Decker with deportation over the protest, potentially tearing apart his young family. Decker: “I’m devastated and very sad. I accepted a prison sentence as a consequence of my actions, but to lose my family, home, community and the adopted country that I have come to love feels like a double punishment. I know that Holly is devastated too. I stayed in this country because I fell in love with her and we have already been separated for 7 months while I’ve been in prison. Now there’s a high chance I will never go home to her and my family again.”
Marcus’ partner Holly has started a petition to oppose the deportation and, separately, a crowdfunder has been set up to help pay Morgan and Marcus’ legal costs, to which I have donated.
I’ve also been sent the below video of Marcus speaking from prison, on April 2nd, 2023:
“This is my call to action, to those who can take these risks. Assemble where you need to assemble; stand up and speak what needs to be heard. Lay this dilemma on the conscience of ordinary people and juries — people like you and I.
This is dangerous; you can have no certainty in their decision. What I can promise you is that you will be liberated from the psychological torture of witnessing as a bystander the greatest crime against humanity and nature.
I have felt this liberation, and it is a far, far deeper peace than I have ever known.”
(spoken from 6m15 in the above video)
19th July update — Marcus and Morgan’s appeal against their sentence will be heard on the morning of next Wednesday, July 26th.
Supporters will be meeting outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London from 9am (an important contribution, showing both the media and those in court that there is public support behind these prisoners and their cause) and then quietly filling the court room. Details and RSVP here.
31st July update — After initially reserving judgement (i.e. taking additional time before issuing their verdict) the court of appeal today handed down their full verdict.
Here is Morgan’s moving response:
(he also now has a Soundcloud account, which you may like to join me in following for future messages)
Could you transcribe the message? It’s very hard to understand with the noise as a non native speaker.
Hi xjanf, thanks for the request.
I’ve transcribed the call and added the transcript to the post above (just under the audio player).
So now you should be able to read along as you listen.
There was one word I couldn’t make out – let me know if you catch it and I’ll fix it up!
Cheers,
Shaun
Thanks Shaun, it’s much clearer now. I couldn’t catch the missing word though!
It’s bewildering how few people have heard about this protest. So many of us are desperately clinging to our denial, to our individual experience because it’s easier than emotionally connecting to what is really happening to our planet right now.
So people like Morgan and Marcus are not only criminalised by the state and threatened with punishment if they speak to the media, they are gaslit by our society and framed as crazy and a nuisance by the media. They should be commended for their bravery. So moved by listening to this recording and thank you for sharing.
Right. Being ‘gaslit by society’ is powerfully put. A beautifully concise summation of the role of mass media in our lives.
I have a comment but it’s a cartoon I have drawn for the local newspaper.
Thanks for emailing it through Bruce. Just about sums it up…
I’m facing some charges myself for similar activities
Thank you then, Bruce, and please feel free to share some information here on your own situation, if you wish.
I’ve also just added an update above, regarding the UK Home Secretary’s deportation threat now hanging over Marcus Decker, and a video of Marcus too speaking from prison, to go alongside the message from Morgan Trowland.
These two men are supporting a good cause but they won’t make many friends outside their group if they disrupt ordinary people’s movement and activities. Is there a better and more effective way?
That’s the question sure enough Richard. Can you think of one? Can you put into action? Or team/share with others to put it into action? If so you have our wholehearted support, just as they do for making this sacrifice in an attempt at waking the world.
Many of us have been trying for decades.
Desperate measures, both well-judged and ill-, are surely inevitable at this point.
“Swerve me? The path to my fixed purpose is laid with iron rails, whereon my soul is grooved to run. Over unsounded gorges, through the rifled hearts of mountains, under torrents’ beds, unerringly I rush! Naught’s an obstacle, naught’s an angle to the iron way!”
– Captain Ahab
You obviously support the groups actions. I agree with the principle of needing to change our ways, however I do not agree with there methods of disrupting normal hard working people’s lives. One thing I’ve never heard from just stop oil is a solution. How can I just stop using oil today, going eco friendly is far too expensive for majority of people!!! What is there solution? Public transport is not an option where I live I am reliant on a car and electric too expensive. Changing my gas heating is too expensive. They need to give some ideas as to how majority of people can afford to change
Hi Neil, thanks for writing. In these times where tribalism and polarisation seem to paralyse and weaponise everything, it feels so important that folk with different views actually talk with each other and seek common understanding. I appreciate it.
Like you, what I support is the group’s message, and I can also fully relate to the desperation that leads to their actions. I can see why doing nothing doesn’t feel like an acceptable option, so they are doing the best they can think of.
As I said to Richard above, it’s up to all of us to come up with more effective actions to address the threat to our collective future. I’m pretty sure Just Stop Oil would warmly welcome it and shift tack if any of us have a great insight here. It can’t be a lot of fun doing what they’re doing in the face of such hostility, and I certainly respect the sacrifice these brave men have made.
With regard to their solution, I think they’ve been fairly clear that they too see the situation you describe – ordinary people have only very limited power to change the emissions of the UK. As such, their strategy is to put pressure on the government to stop issuing new oil and gas leases.
Clearly issuing or not issuing such permits isn’t something that ordinary people can do. Which indeed raises the question of why disrupt ordinary people’s lives?
As I understand it, their answer is that so many of us have tried going through the ‘authorised channels’. The formal climate science is crystal clear that radical reductions in emissions are wildly overdue and urgently needed. And yet for all our marches and petitions, and invasions of the Houses of Parliament, and lobbying, and all the rest, successive governments have chosen to put our collective future on the line. That’s probably the thing to understand – the decades of non-public-disruptive action that have been tried before this.
So Just Stop Oil appear to have decided, “well, the only way to get the government to move appears to be to get the whole population discussing these issues and demanding change. And the only way we can find to get this on the agenda of the whole population is to cause disruption and likely get ourselves thrown in jail. We’ll be deeply unpopular, but if it gets people talking about the issues they might come to see the threat they face. And that might be the only remaining chance for us all at this point”.
In other words, as I understand it their solution is government action. What they ask of ordinary people is that we actively join the push for this, because without it all our futures are threatened.
And if we or anyone can offer any other equally successful method for getting climate on the agenda of more ordinary people I don’t doubt they’d welcome it.
If you have (or anyone else reading has) any genius ideas, I’m well enough networked to share them.
Thank you x