Roger Hallam (activist)

Hallam was raised by a 'strict and traditional' Methodist family.{{Cite web |url=https://metacpc.org/en/hallam/ |title=An interview with Roger Hallam — on radical politics, youth mobilization, Extinction Rebellion, and much more – mέta |date=1 October 2021 |website=metacpc.org |access-date=23 February 2025}} His parents were both active members of the Liberal party. His father worked as a factory manager, and his mother was a minister with the local Methodist church.{{Cite web |url=https://www.thetimes.com/life-style/article/roger-hallam-interview-extinction-rebellion-climate-change-protests-insulate-britain-just-stop-oil-gb3vtm8zs |title=The XR founder who wants to bring Britain to a standstill |first=Tom|last=Ball |date=21 April 2023 |website=www.thetimes.com |access-date=23 February 2025}} He grew up in Hazel Grove, a suburb of Stockport.

At age 18 Hallam travelled to India as part of the Student Christian Movement to work with civil rights groups in Raipur. He then went to the London School of Economics but left after a year to become a full-time campaigner.

In 1987, Hallam lived on South Road in Hockley, working as a voluntary worker.Birmingham News Wednesday 18 March 1987, page 3

In 1990, he was part of a cooperative that opened a vegetarian cafe in Saltley.Birmingham Mail Tuesday 20 March 1990, page 20 From May 1993, he was part an organic food cooperative on South Road in Hockley, after living in West Virginia.Birmingham News Thursday 6 January 1994, page 7 He lived in a communal-type house, with around six people, with division of labour.Birmingham Post Thursday 12 January 1995, page 32

He was previously an organic farmer on a {{convert|10|acre|ha|adj=on|abbr=off|0}} smallholding near Llandeilo in South Wales; he attributes the destruction of his business to a series of extreme weather events.{{cite web|first1=Anna|last1=Lewis|access-date=28 September 2019|title=The Welsh farmer who became the mastermind of Extinction Rebellion|url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/extinction-rebellion-roger-hallam-llandeilo-16974335|date=25 September 2019|website=WalesOnline}}{{cite web|access-date=30 June 2019|title=Extinction Rebellion founder cleared of vandalism by jury after arguing climate change justification|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/extinction-rebellion-court-vandalism-roger-hallam-kings-college-southwark-crown-a8907796.html|date=10 May 2019|website=The Independent}}

Between at least 2017 and early 2019, he was studying for a PhD at King's College London,{{cite news|first1=Sandra|last1=Laville|last2=agencies|access-date=30 June 2019|title=Extinction Rebellion founder cleared over King's College protest|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/09/extinction-rebellion-founder-cleared-over-kings-college-protest|work=The Guardian|date=9 May 2019|issn=0261-3077}} researching how to achieve social change through civil disobedience and radical movements.{{cite news |first1=Catrin|last1=Nye |access-date=30 June 2019 |title=The climate protesters who want to get arrested |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47865211 |date=10 April 2019 |website=BBC}}

Hallam appeared at Bow Street magistrates for daubing anti-nuclear peace messages on the Ministry of Defence building on Ash Wednesday in 1987. In 1988, he appeared at Birmingham Crown Court for daubing feminist messages on car advert display boards saying 'This oppresses women' in July 1987 on an Austin Maestro advert in Hockley Circus.Birmingham Mail Monday 23 May 1988, page 11

Later in 2017, Hallam was a leading member of activist group Stop Killing Londoners,{{cite news |last1=Taylor |first1=Matthew |title='We don't have time to wait and see': air pollution protesters resort to direct action |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/dec/27/we-dont-have-time-to-wait-and-see-air-pollution-protesters-resort-to-direct-action |access-date=27 August 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=27 December 2017}} an anti-pollution campaign{{cite news |title=Anti-Pollution Activists Shut Down Busy London Road During Rush Hour |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/anti-pollution-activists-marylebone-road_uk_59f99fdbe4b0d1cf6e918072 |access-date=27 August 2019 |work=HuffPost UK |date=1 November 2017 |language=en}} of mass civil disobedience that they hoped would result in the arrest and imprisonment of activists.{{cite news |last1=Whipple |first1=Tom |title=Clean-air activists hope to be jailed for protests |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/article/clean-air-activists-hope-to-be-jailed-for-protests-twg5p38sq |access-date=27 August 2019 |work=The Times |date=1 January 2018 |language=en}} Hallam with Stuart Basden, Ian Bray and Genny Scherer were prosecuted and some pledged to go on hunger strike if imprisoned.{{cite news |last1=Carrington |first1=Damian |last2=Taylor |first2=Matthew |title=UK government sued for third time over deadly air pollution |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/07/uk-government-sued-for-third-time-over-deadly-air-pollution |work=The Guardian |date=7 November 2017 |access-date=23 February 2025}}

Hallam is a co-founder of environmental pressure group Extinction Rebellion, with Gail Bradbrook and Simon Bramwell.{{cite news|first1=Matthew|last1=Taylor|access-date=30 June 2019|title='We have a duty to act': hundreds ready to go to jail over climate crisis|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/26/we-have-a-duty-to-act-hundreds-ready-to-go-to-jail-over-climate-crisis|work=The Guardian|date=26 October 2018|issn=0261-3077}}{{cite web|first1=Emily|last1=Goddard|first2=Jamie|last2=Clifton|first3=Alex|last3=Sturrock|access-date=1 July 2019|title=Extinction Rebellion Is Telling the Terrifying Truth About Climate Change|url=https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/bjqdbd/xr-is-telling-the-terrifying-truth-about-climate-change|date=20 February 2019|website=Vice}} He stood unsuccessfully in the 2019 European Parliament election in the London constituency as an independent, winning 924 of the 2,241,681 votes cast (0.04%).{{Cite news |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48403131 |title=European Election 2019: UK results in maps and charts {{!}} BBC News |website=bbc.co.uk |access-date=1 July 2019}}

In September 2023, Hallam was ranked thirty-fourth on the New Statesman's Left Power List of influential left-wing figures in the UK.{{Cite web |last=Statesman |first=New |date=17 May 2023 |title=The New Statesman's left power list |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2023/05/the-new-statesmans-left-power-list |access-date=13 December 2023 |website=New Statesman |language=en-US}}

In January 2017, in an action to urge King's College London to divest from fossil fuels, Hallam and David Durant, using water-soluble chalk-based spray paint, painted "Divest from oil and gas", "Now!" and "Out of time" on the university's Strand campus entrance. and were fined {{currency|500|code=GBP}}.{{cite web |access-date=30 June 2019|title=A university student is on hunger strike to force action on climate change – and it's working|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/kings-college-london-fossil-fuels-divestment-campaign-roger-hallam-uk-student-coal-gas-oil-a7612881.html|date=5 March 2017|website=The Independent}} In February they again spray painted the university's Great Hall causing a claimed {{currency|7000|code=GBP|fmt=gaps}} worth of damage and were arrested.{{cite news |first1=Will|last1=Humphries |access-date=30 June 2019 |title=Eco protesters 'caused £7,000 damage to walls at King's College London' |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/crime/article/eco-protesters-caused-7-000-damage-to-university-walls-k0k2n8bd3 |work=The Times |date=8 May 2019 |issn=0140-0460}}

In May 2019, after a three-day trial at Southwark Crown Court for criminal damage, they were cleared by a jury of all charges, having argued in their defence that their actions were a proportionate response to the climate crisis, with Hallam arguing his actions were lawful under an exemption in the Criminal Damage Act that permits damage if it protects another's property.{{cite news |first1=Kristian|last1=Buus|access-date=17 October 2019|title=Extinction Rebellion: the arrestables – a photo essay|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/07/extinction-rebellion-arrestables-photo-essay|work=The Guardian|date=7 October 2019|issn=0261-3077}} In March 2017, Hallam went on a 14 day{{cite web |url=https://www.sos-uk.org/post/kings-to-divest-after-campaign-of-direct-action-and-hunger-strike |title=King's to divest after campaign of direct action and hunger strike] |website=sos-uk.org}}{{dead link |date=February 2025}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/27/britain-betrayed-heathrow-humanity-survival |title=Wake up, Britain. We’ve been betrayed over Heathrow |work=The Guardian |date=27 June 2018 |access-date=23 February 2025}} hunger strike to demand the university divest from fossil fuels—the institution had millions of pounds invested in fossil fuels but no investment in renewable energy. Five weeks after the first protest, the university removed {{currency|14 million|code=GBP|passthrough=yes}} worth of investments from fossil fuel companies and pledged to become carbon neutral by 2025.{{cite news|first1=Will|last1=Humphries|access-date=30 June 2019|title=Jury clears spray-paint activists from Extinction Rebellion|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/jury-clears-spray-paint-activists-from-extinction-rebellion-xbjnhzflv|work=The Times|date=10 May 2019|issn=0140-0460}}

In an interview with Die Zeit on 20 November 2019, Hallam said that genocides are "like a regular event" in history and he also called the Holocaust "just another fuckery in human history".{{Cite news |url= https://www.zeit.de/wirtschaft/2019-11/extinction-rebellion-co-founder-roger-hallam-holocaust |work=Die Zeit |title=Extinction Rebellion: Roger Hallam calls Holocaust "just another fuckery in human history" |first=Katrin|last=Scheib |date=20 November 2019 |access-date=23 February 2025}}{{cite news|first1=Kate|last1=Connolly|first2=Matthew|last2=Taylor|access-date=21 November 2019|title=Extinction Rebellion founder's Holocaust remarks spark fury|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/20/extinction-rebellion-founders-holocaust-remarks-spark-fury|work=The Guardian|date=20 November 2019|issn=0261-3077}} He made this comment in the context of a broader discussion about genocides which have been committed throughout human history, in which Hallam compared the Nazi Holocaust to the atrocities in the Congo Free State in the late 19th century; as he stated, the "fact of the matter is, millions of people have been killed in vicious circumstances on a regular basis throughout history" and he also stated that the Belgians "went to the Congo in the late 19th century and decimated it."{{Cite news | url=https://www.zeit.de/wirtschaft/2019-11/extinction-rebellion-co-founder-roger-hallam-holocaust | title=Extinction Rebellion: Roger Hallam calls Holocaust "just another fuckery in human history" |newspaper=Die Zeit |date=20 November 2019 |access-date=13 August 2020 | last1=Scheib | first1=Katrin }} Hallam's controversial comparison drew support from African activists, the Stop the Maangamizi: We Charge Genocide/Ecocide! Campaign, who were critical of the tone of his language but lauded him for his honesty and his willingness to highlight the crimes which colonial powers committed in Africa.{{Cite web | url=https://stopthemaangamizi.com/2019/11/26/smwecgec-gapp-statement-on-roger-hallams-shoah-comments-their-relevance-to-the-maangamizi/ |title= SMWeCGEC & GAPP Statement on Roger Hallam's Shoah Comments & Their Relevance to the Maangamizi |website=stopthemaangamizi.com |date= 26 November 2019 |access-date=23 February 2025}} However, his comments about the Holocaust, perceived by some as anti-Semitic, resulted in his expulsion from Extinction Rebellion in 2020.

In a self-published pamphlet which he wrote in prison in 2019, Hallam wrote that the climate crisis would lead to mass rape, and he featured a story in which the reader's female family members are gang raped and the reader is forced to watch. The pamphlet was condemned by Farah Nazeer, CEO of Women's Aid.{{cite news |last1=Boycott-Owen |first1=Mason |title=Extinction Rebellion founder's repugnant rant: 'Climate crisis will lead to gang rape' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/11/03/extinction-rebellion-co-founder-claimed-climate-crisis-will/ |access-date=7 November 2021 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=3 November 2021}} When Der Spiegel replied to Hallam that "You can't blame the climate change for the rape of women during war", Hallam's response was "No, climate change is just the tubes that the gas comes down in the gas chamber. It's just a mechanism through which one generation kills the next generation".{{cite news |last1=Backes |first1=Laura |last2=Thelen |first2=Raphael |title='We Are Engaged in the Murder of the World's Children' |url=https://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/interview-with-extinction-rebellion-co-founder-roger-hallam-a-1297789.html |access-date=7 November 2021 |work=Der Spiegel |date=22 November 2019}}

Hallam and four other activists were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance on 12 September 2019, the day before a planned action to pilot drones in the exclusion zone around Heathrow Airport in order to disrupt flights.{{cite news|first1=Damien|last1=Gayle|access-date=12 September 2019|title=Heathrow third runway activists arrested before drone protest|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/12/heathrow-third-runway-activists-arrested-before-drone-protest|work=The Guardian|date=12 September 2019|issn=0261-3077}} Three days later, in an action organised by Heathrow Pause, Hallam was arrested in the vicinity of Heathrow Airport apparently in breach of bail conditions from the previous arrest requiring him to not to be within {{convert|5|mi|km|0|abbr=off}} of any airport or possess drone equipment.{{cite news |title=Extinction Rebellion co-founder arrested at Heathrow protest|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/14/extinction-rebellion-co-founder-arrested-at-heathrow-protest|access-date=16 September 2019 |work=The Guardian |agency=PA Media |date=14 September 2019 |language=en}} He was remanded in custody until 14 October.{{cite news |last1=Sharman |first1=Jon |title=Extinction Rebellion co-founder charged over Heathrow drone plot – 'Airport expansion constitutes a crime against humanity,' says Roger Hallam |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/extinction-rebellion-heathrow-drones-protest-roger-hallam-a9107686.html |access-date=17 September 2019 |work=The Independent |date=16 September 2019}}

On 5 April 2024, Hallam was given a 2 year prison sentence suspended for 18 months for plotting to close Heathrow airport using drones as a way of showing opposition to the opening of a third runway at the airport. Hallam and his co-defendants had claimed that the act was "merely a publicity exercise". However, this defence was rejected by the jury.{{cite news |title=Extinction Rebellion Heathrow activist sentenced over drone plan |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-68739970 |access-date=19 July 2024 |work=BBC News |date=5 April 2024}}

{{main|Just Stop Oil M25 blockade case}}

On 11{{nbsp}}July 2024, Hallam and four co{{nbhyph}}defendants were tried for conspiring to block traffic on the M25 motorway, London's main orbital motorway. Hallam had been arrested in a dawn{{nbsp}}raid at his home on 18{{nbsp}}October 2023.

{{cite news

| last1 = Gayle | first1 = Damien

| title = Greta Thunberg charged with public order offence after London oil protest

| date = 18 October 2023

| work = The Guardian

| location = London, United Kingdom

| issn = 0261-3077

| url = https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/oct/18/greta-thunberg-charged-with-public-order-offence-after-london-oil-protest

| access-date = 18 October 2023

}}

Hallam's plan that was carried out resulting in multiple days of disruption on the motorway.{{cite news | last1 = Gayle | first1 = Damien | title = Just Stop Oil activists found guilty of conspiring to block M25 traffic | date = 11 July 2024 | work = The Guardian | issn = 0261-3077 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/jul/11/just-stop-oil-activists-found-guilty-of-conspiring-to-block-m25-traffic | access-date = 12 July 2024}} The jury trial took place in London and was marked by outbursts from the defendants after a ruling from Judge Christopher Hehir prohibiting them from using climate breakdown as a defence for their actions.{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/law/article/2024/jul/11/climate-protest-trials-evidence-restrictions-m25-activists | title=What restrictions are placed on defendants in climate protest trials? | newspaper=The Guardian | date=11 July 2024 | last1=Siddique | first1=Haroon |access-date=23 February 2025}} At one point, Hallam refused to leave the witness box and was duly arrested for contempt and sent to the cells. In{{nbsp}}fact, police were called to court on seven occasions and made several arrests. The trial judge indicated that Hallam and his co{{nbhyph}}defendants will face multi{{nbhyph}}year prison sentences.

The jury found Roger Hallam and his co-conspirators guilty of causing a public nuisance by unanimous verdict. Judge Christopher Hehir said the defendants had "crossed the line from concerned campaigner to fanatic".{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/18/five-just-stop-oil-supporters-jailed-over-protest-that-blocked-m25 |title=Five Just Stop Oil activists receive record sentences for planning to block M25 |first=Damien|last=Gayle |date=18 July 2024 |via=The Guardian |access-date=23 February 2025}} On 18 July 2024, at Southwark Crown Court, Hallam was sentenced to five years' imprisonment while the other four defendants each received four-year jail terms.{{cite web |first=Tom|last=Symonds |date=18 July 2024 |title=Just Stop Oil protesters jailed after M25 blocked |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c880xjx54mpo |website=BBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718162608/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c880xjx54mpo |archive-date=18 July 2024 |url-status=live |access-date=23 February 2025}}{{cite news | last1 = Gayle | first1 = Damien | title = Contempt, gagging and UN intervention: inside the UK's wildest climate trial | date = 12 July 2024 | work = The Guardian | issn = 0261-3077 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/12/contempt-gagging-un-intervention-uk-wildest-climate-trial-just-stop-oil | access-date = 12 July 2024}}

The 5 year sentence was reduced to 4 years by the Court of Appeal on 7 March 2025, with the country's most senior judge ruling that it was "manifestly excessive".https://www.landmarkchambers.co.uk/news-and-cases/court-reduces-manifestly-excessive-sentences-for-just-stop-oil-m25-conspiratorshttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/07/just-stop-oil-protesters-jail-sentences-shortened-after-appeal Sentences for 5 more of the total of 16 co-defendants in the appeal were also reduced, leaving 10 other sentences unchanged. Raj Chada, representing Hallam and the other protestors, said they were reviewing the Court of Appeal judgement and considering a final appeal to the Supreme Court.{{Cite news |date=7 March 2025 |title=JSO co-founder's sentence reduced by appeal court |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2jvmrvydro |work=BBC News}}https://news.sky.com/story/just-stop-oil-co-founder-roger-hallam-wins-court-appeal-13323257

UN{{nbsp}}Rapporteur for environmental defenders, Michel Forst, spent time at the trial and was critical of the proceedings. Prominent figures including TV presenter and environmentalist Chris Packham, TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, entrepreneur Dale Vince, Green Party peer Jenny Jones, and Labour Party Norwich South MP Clive Lewis, spoke out against the sentencing.{{cite news |last1=Gayle |first1=Damien |last2=Horton |first2=Helena |title=Celebrities add voice to outcry over severity of Just Stop Oil sentences |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/19/chris-packham-celebrities-outcry-over-severity-just-stop-oil-sentences |work=The Guardian |date=19 July 2024 |access-date=19 July 2024}} In contrast, Andrew Tettenborn, a professor of law at Swansea University, spoke out in favour of Hallam's sentencing.{{cite web |last1=Tettenborn |first1=Andrew |title=Just Stop Oil fanatics deserve their lengthy jail terms |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/just-stop-oil-fanatics-deserve-their-lengthy-jail-terms/ |website=The Spectator |access-date=24 July 2024 |date=19 July 2024}}

The government refused to comment on the sentencing, with a spokeswoman for the prime minister stating that "the judgments and sentencing is for independent judges to make". Similarly a spokesperson for the attorney general's office stated that "Decisions to prosecute, convict and sentence are, rightly, made independently of government by the Crown Prosecution Service, juries and judges respectively. The attorney general has no power to intervene."{{cite news |last1=Gayle |first1=Damien |last2=Horton |first2=Helena |last3=Quinn |first3=Ben |title='Not acceptable in a democracy': UN expert condemns lengthy Just Stop Oil sentences |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/jul/19/not-acceptable-un-expert-condemns-sentences-given-to-just-stop-oil-activists |access-date=19 July 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=19 July 2024}}

A Yougov opinion poll in October 2024 found that the majority of the public either supported the prison sentences that had been given or preferred even longer.{{cite web |url=https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/50766-most-britons-say-just-stop-oil-protestors-deserved-jail-time |title=Most Britons say Just Stop Oil protestors deserved jail time |date=22 October 2024 |accessdate=24 March 2025}}

Hallam has one daughter.{{Cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/mar/15/rebellion-review-thoughtful-documentary-telling-the-real-story-behind-extinction-rebellion |title=Rebellion review – thoughtful documentary telling the real story behind Extinction Rebellion |first=Cath|last=Clarke |date=15 March 2022 |via=The Guardian |access-date=23 February 2025}}

• Environmental law
• Fossil fuels lobby

{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website|www.rogerhallam.com}}
• [https://www.theguardian.com/profile/roger-hallam Roger Hallam] on The Guardian

{{Authority control}}

{{Portal bar|Biography|United Kingdom|Environment}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hallam, Roger}}

Category:British environmentalists

Category:British climate activists

Category:British left-wing activists

Category:Living people

Category:1966 births

Category:Independent British political candidates

Category:Extinction Rebellion

Category:Organic farmers

Category:21st-century British politicians

Category:People from Llandeilo

Category:Alumni of King's College London

Category:British political party founders

Category:Leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom