Just Stop Oil has reportedly interrupted yet another FGC tournament, disrupting the Street Fighters 6 CPT Paris finals.
Protestors from the environmental group Just Stop Oil have seemingly stormed the stage and interrupted Street Fighter 6 Capcom Pro Tour Paris finals. The interruption occurred just before 3 p.m. local time (CET) on Nov. 5, and disrupted play for around 10 minutes. The incident was initially reported by British FGC player and commentator Femi "F-Word" Adeboye, who was commentating as the interruption took place.
In the post, F-Word described the situation at the CBT Paris finals: "Right, those of you guys tuning in to watch Chris Wong versus MenaRD the grand finals, we've taken a 10-minute break, now seven minutes remaining because I believe Just Stop Oil have just stormed the stage and thrown paint over the main screen. I don't know why they're attacking FGC events. Like seriously. I mean really. Is that your target? We're like trying to grow, we're like here *gestures to ground* like chill out man. Anyway, it is what it is. We have to swap out the screen, so these poor players are going to have to wait, the screen's going to be swapped out, and then we're going to try and get the finals underway."
Subsquently, a video of the incident was posted by Twitter/X user ThraigerZord, who posted “#JustStopOil keeps attacking #FGC events #StreetFighter6”
A more detailed video of the incident can be seen on the CapcomFighters Twitch Channel. In the video, a person appears on stage and appears to wave their hands in front of Saul Leonardo "MenaRD" Mena II's screen, as can be seen on MenaRD's player cam, forcing a pause, and causing the person to be escorted off stage by security.
A further video, posted by Hassan Fajri/@custardcomos on Twitter/X shows the activists vault the fence, before applying a substance to their hands and smearing it on the competitors screens. Security then tackle the protestor, while another protester climbs the fence and sits in protest. A slogan can be seen on their shirts, but cannot be clearly read in the video.
On Oct. 16 Just Stop Oil stormed the stage at the Tekken UK & IRE Championships at EGX 2023, in London. This marks the second protest staged at a FGC event in less than a month. The FGC, whose events are well-known for their vocal and passionate community, decried the protest last month, and similar reactions have been sparked by today’s protest.
Street Fighter 6 tournament interrupted by Just Stop Oil
In the wake of the interruption, commentator and event logistics consultant Logan Sama posted “Just Stop Oil once again targeting the wrong people.”
This sentiment was echoed around the community in numerous reposts and replies. As mentioned in our report last month, Just Stop Oil uses disruption and sometimes vandalism as a method of nonviolent protest. However, their methods have drawn the ire of the FGC and wider esports community.
CPT 2023: France Offline finals concluded with Wong "Chris Wong" Yuk-cheung defeating MenaRD in the grand final. With the win, Chris Wong has qualified for the Capcom Cup X, which will take place in February, 2024, in Los Angeles, California.
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