EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN: Climate protester set himself on fire at tennis match and instantly regretted it.

A UK climate protester literally put his skin in the game when he ran onto a tennis court before Roger Federer’s final match at O2 Arena in London and set himself on fire. That was surely meant as a sign of his absolute commitment to the cause but apparently no one had told him that fire is hot.

Wearing a white T-shirt reading “End UK Private Jets,” the protester, a young man, appeared on the court during the afternoon singles match between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Diego Schwartzman. Sitting down near the net on Schwartzman’s side of the court, the man briefly set fire to his right arm, and to the court, as security officials ran toward him.

The protester appeared to immediately regret the decision to set fire to himself, and quickly put out the flames with his left hand while a small fire burned on the court next to him. A staff member smothered the on-court fire with a suit jacket while the protester calmly waited to be removed.

Once the fire was out, and with Schwartzman keeping a safe distance, three security guards carried the man off the court to a chorus of boos from the crowd.

The whole thing only lasted about 30 seconds and accomplished nothing.

Michael Shellenberger has a thread on the intersection of apocalyptic environmentalism and exhibitionist narcissism that’s well worth a read:

In contrast, in the sixties, protestors who self-immolated were made of much sterner stuff: