AP Photo/John Minchillo
Several environmentalist protesters had to be physically removed from the U.S. Open on Thursday after they interrupted Coco Gauff’s semi-final match against Karolina Muchova with chants against fossil fuels.
The protesters, who wore Extinction Rebellion shirts, interrupted the event with chants of “End fossil fuels!” from the audience stands, while one protester allegedly glued his feet to the floor.
During the incident, an announcer at the stadium reportedly confirmed that a protester had “glued his feet to the cement floor.”
After spectators jeered at the protesters with their own chants of “You suck!” and “F*ck you!” security could be seen escorting the environmentalists out one by one.
The match was reportedly delayed by more than 30 minutes, however, as New York City Police officers struggled to remove the glue from one of the protester’s feet, according to Mail Sport editor Ben Nagle. After the glue was successfully removed, the man could be seen being removed from the stadium as he shouted back at the booing audience.
A U.S. Open match also had to be paused on Tuesday after a member of the audience allegedly shouted a “famous Hitler phrase” at German tennis player Alexander Zverev during his match against Italian tennis player Jannik Sinner.
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