Palestine Action activists accused of vandalising a Scottish golf course owned by United States President Donald Trump have been accused of âterrorismâ offences, according to reports.
The potential use of âterror-scaleâ sentencing was reported by The Guardian and The New York Times on Friday. The seven activists, who spray-painted messages in support of Gaza and dug up turf at Trumpâs Turnberry golf resort in Ayrshire last year, have been charged with malicious damage âhaving a terrorist connection,â the newspapers reported.
An initial hearing on the cases is due to open at the High Court in Glasgow on Monday, August 31.
The charges stem from a March 8, 2025 protest targeting the resort over Trumpâs stance on Gaza. Activists from the British group sprayed red paint across the clubhouse, damaged turf and sprinklers, applied weedkiller to the greens, and painted âGaza is not 4 saleâ across the property.
All seven defendants were charged under ordinary criminal law for malicious property damage. However, the prosecutionâs 16-page indictment asserts the acts were âaggravated by reason of having a terrorist connectionâ.
Palestine Action has been locked in a legal battle with the United Kingdom since the British government proscribed it as a âterroristâ group last year.
Cofounder Huda Ammori said that the charges against those involved in the protest at Turnberry made it clear that prosecutors were trying to appease Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
âWe used direct action protests to save lives â the opposite of terrorism â by disrupting the flow of arms being used to murder Palestinians,â she said in a statement.
âBy hitting the profits of arms companies and by daring to spray paint on the golf course owned by the demagogue who has enabled Netanyahuâs crimes, we made powerful enemies. The British government chose to appease them by criminalising us as âterroristsâ,â she added.
Earlier this week, the United States imposed sanctions on Palestine Action and the pro-Palestine international movement Masar Badil, as the administration of President Donald Trump intensifies a global crackdown on critics of Israel.
The US Department of the Treasury also imposed financial penalties on Wednesday against Autistici Inventati, an Italian group that provides digital services to left-wing organisations, including pro-Palestine groups.
John McDonnell, a Labour member of the British parliament and former shadow chancellor of the exchequer, criticised the potential âterrorâ link in the charges.
âThe news that the protesters who allegedly sprayed red paint on Trumpâs golf course could face terrorist sentencing, coupled with Trump himself now announcing that he is following Britainâs lead by proscribing Palestine Action as a âterroristâ group, is profoundly embarrassing for Britain,â he said.
âAndy Burnham has inherited this mess from the previous government. This must be the wake-up call to drop this absurdly authoritarian ban, before Starmerâs blueprint is adopted by repressive governments around the world to criminalise protest and suppress political dissent.â
