Sam Walton (born 1980s in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

) is a British peace activist and, as of March 2020, Chief Executive of

Free Tibet Free Tibet (FT) is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation, founded in 1987 and based in London, England. According to their mission statement, Free Tibet advocates for "a free Tibet in which Tibetans are able to determine their own futur ...

and Tibet Watch. He is most well known for his arrest on 29 January 2017 at

Warton Aerodrome Warton Aerodrome is an airfield located in Warton village on the Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is west of Preston, Lancashire. The western end of the site adjoins the village of Freckleton. The airfield is a major assembly and testing ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

on suspicion of

criminal damage Property damage (sometimes called damage to property) is the damage or destruction of real or tangible personal property, caused by negligence, willful destruction, or an act of nature. Destruction of property (sometimes called property dest ...

after attempting to "disarm war planes" which he believed were bound for

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. Walton is a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

and used to work for

Quaker Peace and Social Witness Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW), previously known as the Friends Service Council, and then as Quaker Peace and Service, is one of the central committees of Britain Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends – the national organisa ...

Activism

Art the Arms fair

In September 2017 Walton was a key organiser of 'Art the arms fair' an art exhibition designed to coincide with the Defence and Security Equipment International arms fair, it was supported by many artists including

Banksy Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist, and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive ep ...

via a donated a piece called Civilian Drone Strike.

Attempted citizen's arrest of Ahmad Asiri

On 30 March 2017 Walton attempted a

citizen's arrest A citizen's arrest is an arrest made by a private citizen – a person who is not acting as a sworn Police officer, law-enforcement official. In common law jurisdictions, the practice dates back to medieval England and the English common law, in wh ...

Ahmad Asiri Major General Ahmad Hassan Mohammad Asiri (; born 12 February 1952) is a Saudi Arabian military officer. He is a close confidant and adviser to Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and the former deputy head of the General Intelligence Presid ...

who was visiting London, citing accusations of war crimes in Yemen. Due to the protests and attempted arrest, the UK Foreign Secretary

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...

phoned Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince

Mohammed bin Salman Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (; born 31 August 1985), also known as MBS or MbS, is the ''de facto'' ruler of the Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, formally serving as Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Sa ...

to apologize.

Attempt to disarm fighter jets at Warton Aerodrome

On 29 January 2017 Walton and

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

minister Dan Woodhouse were arrested after entering the

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft manufacturer, aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer that was formed in 1977. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. ...

site after an attempt to disarm by damaging the Typhoon fighter jets stored there that they believed were bound for the

Royal Saudi Air Force The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF; ) is the military aviation, aviation branch of the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabian Armed Forces. The Royal Saudi Air Force currently has wings, squadrons, and a special forces unit dedicated to comba ...

and therefore to be used in the

Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen On 26 March 2015, Saudi Arabia, leading a coalition of nine countries from West Asia and North Africa, launched a military intervention in Yemen at the request of Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who had been ousted from the capital, Sa ...

. The action was inspired by the

Seeds of Hope Seeds of Hope (short for Seeds of Hope East Timor Ploughshares Group, but also known as the Ploughshares Four or the Warton Four) was a plowshares group of women who damaged a BAE Hawk warplane at the British Aerospace Warton Aerodrome site n ...

group of the Plowshares movement who damaged a Hawk fighter jet in 1996. The pair managed to get beyond fences, closed doors and sensors and were "just metres" from allegedly disarming Saudi Arabia-bound fighter planes with a hammer. These actions gave Sam promince in Yemen. In October 2017 Walton and Woodhouse appeared at Burnley Magistrates court facing charges of criminal damage; both were found not guilty after successfully arguing that they acted for the greater good.

Protests for human rights in Bahrain

In 2018 Walton supported Ali Mushaima's hungerstike outside Bahrain's London embassy to call for his father

Hasan Mushaima Hasan Mushaima () is an opposition leader in Bahrain and the secretary-general of the Haq Movement, an important opposition party in Bahrain. Before forming Haq, he was a founding member of Al Wefaq and a leading figure in the 1994 uprising ...

's release. In 2017 Walton was outside of the Bahraini embassy when someone from within the embassy threw boiling water on the protest he was involved in. In 2014 Walton tried to get into the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre to protest weapons sales to the dictatorship in Bahrain.

Interruption of Vince Cable speech

On 26 April 2012 Walton interrupted the Business Secretary

Vince Cable Sir John Vincent Cable (born 9 May 1943) is a British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. He was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham (UK Parliament constituency), Twic ...

's address at a

UK Trade & Investment UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) was a UK Government department working with businesses based in the United Kingdom to assist their success in international markets, and with overseas investors looking to the UK as an investment destination. It wa ...

Defence & Security Organisation (UKTI DSO) Symposium. Walton took to the stage to condemn the promotion of the arms industry.

Count Me Out campaign

Throughout 2011 & 2012 Walton was involved in 'Count Me Out', a group who opposed to the company

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American Arms industry, defense and aerospace manufacturer with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta on March 15, 1995. It is headquartered in North ...

's involvement in the

UK 2011 census A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...

Publications

* In 2019 Walton co-authored Netpol's restricting the rebellion report. * In October 2017 Walton and Woodhouse co-authored an article "Even the UK courts believe our arms sales to Saudi Arabia are wrong – which is why we were acquitted of criminal damage this week" in

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

's Voices section. * In 2014 Walton authored the briefing "The New Tide of Militarism" for Quaker Peace & Social Witness. * Walton has also written for

OpenDemocracy openDemocracy is an independent media platform and news website based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2001, openDemocracy states that through reporting and analysis of social and political issues, they seek to "challenge power and encourage d ...

Novara Media Novara Media (often shortened to Novara) is an Independent media, independent,F. Mayhew,The Media Fund offers 'democratic' alternative to billionaire press owners and BBC' (11/10/17) in Press Gazette Nonprofit journalism, non-profit, Left-wing p ...

Peace News ''Peace News'' (''PN'') is a pacifist magazine first published on 6 June 1936 to serve the peace movement in the United Kingdom. From later in 1936 to April 1961 it was the official paper of the Peace Pledge Union (PPU), and from 1990 to 2004 ...

& Ceasefire Magazine.

References

External links

*
Interruption of Vince cable's speech

Interview in OpenDemocracy

Speaking to the United Nations on human rights in Bahrain

BBC News coverage of criminal damages trail
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walton, Sam English pacifists Activists from London English Quakers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people