EXCLUSIVE Just Stop Oil activist is punched to the floor and kicked on the ground by boyfriend of pregnant woman after their car crashes next to protest

Just Stop Oil protests took a shocking turn in London this morning after a 21-year-old activist was punched and kicked to the floor after the group blocked a road in South Kensington ‘causing a pregnant woman to crash her car’. 

The victim, Daniel Knorr, 21, a student from Oxford had previously gained notoriety after being carried off the pitch at Lords by England cricketer Johnny Bairstow. 

In the graphic clip, a silver Mercedes can be seen pulled halfway across Cromwell Road in west London having apparently crashed. 

A woman then leaves the car and screams ‘Stop now, I’m pregnant’, before another man gets out and angrily confronts the protesters, screaming: ‘Stop now, stop recording, you little s***.’

The man then appears to violently punch one activist in the face before stamping and kicking him while he lies prone on the ground. 

A woman remonstrates with activists, explaining to them that she is pregnant

A furious man can then be seen leaving a stranded car and attacking an activist

The man punches an activist to the ground and kicks him

In response, Just Stop Oil said: ‘Daniel was assaulted while marching this morning, and remained nonviolent throughout. Disruption is difficult, but it’s necessary.’

Speaking after the assault, Mr Knorr said: ‘I haven’t said anything to the police and I don’t plan to, but I’m afraid that the police might go after this man.

I feel no ill sentiment or ill will against him. It’s a difficult situation for anyone to be in and it’s bound to create frustration.

‘I can tell with the fact that he’d just been in a car accident, he was very stressed.’

A witness to the incident told MailOnline: ‘The protest was just like so many others we’ve seen in London with a string of people in orange bibs blocking two lanes of the street and marching slowly.

‘The two lanes on the other side of the road weren’t blocked but were going slowly as people looked at what was happening. A silver car I think must have been trying to switch lanes and he got hit at low speed by a van behind them on its driver side.

‘A woman got out of the car and she was shouting at the protesters and then a man got out too and he just rushed over and started attacking the guy who seemed to be leading the Just Stop Oil group.

‘He punched him to the ground and then kicked him when it was on the ground. It was quite shockingly violent. It happened really quickly.

‘I’m not sure why they were so angry but I suspect they blamed the protest for causing the prang – and the one who got attacked had his own phone out so they may have thought he was filming them.

‘As I had been filming myself I didn’t want to stick around myself in case he turned on me so I didn’t see how it ended beyond the man in the red hat then talking to the van driver,, presumably to pass on insurance details.

‘The whole episode was insane.’

England cricket star Jonny Bairstow was hailed ‘a hero’ for carrying Daniel Knorr off the pitch at Lord’s last month

Police officers picked up Knorr and carried  him away after Bairstow intervened

Daniel Knorr is led away from a Coventry museum by a police officer following the failed stunt  to scale and cover ‘Dippy the Diplodocus’ with orange powder in April

Knorr lay motionless after being tackled by security guards, who were able to confiscate a rucksack filled with paint under Dippy in April

The group has so far targeted over five locations in the capital resulting in pedestrians pushing them into the road and Sky Sports’ Chris Kamara being delayed for a TV appearance. 

The day began with activists targeting the Department for Energy Security for Net Zero with with orange fire extinguishers resulting in their arrests. 

So far, the Metropolitan Police have been called to other events in the capital at Marylebone Road, Parliament Square, Westminster Bridge, Victoria Street and on Vauxhall Bridge Road – and in all cases police issued section 12 notices to demonstrators. 

Amongst those caught in the traffic chaos was Sky Sports commentator Chris Kamara who tweeted: ‘Been stuck in traffic on the Vauxhall Bridge in London with the Oil Protesters doing their stuff. Missed my 9am call time.’ 

Elsewhere, a driver at the end of his tether was recorded pushing two activists into each other on a busy London road after the group deployed another slow march.  

Two activists from the eco-zealot group were also seen dousing the government building in Whitehall with the orange spray as a protest against the government’s use of fossil fuels. 

After their messy protest, the two demonstrators sat down in front of the paint splattered glass building and remained motionless. 

In ugly scenes elsewhere in London a pedestrian was seen pushing protesters out of the road

The scuffle caused two protesters to topple over in the middle of the busy highway

Sky Sports’ Chris Kamara was caught up in Just Stop Oil chaos this morning

The pundit tweeted that due to the disruption he had missed his TV call time 

Pictures then showed police officers swooping in to detain the two activists, who have been identified as Matthew Cunningham, 25, and Imogen May, 24. 

In a short statement, the group said: ‘This morning, 2 supporters of Just Stop Oil have painted the department responsible for issuing over 100 new oil and gas licences in the UK.’

Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps then accused Just Stop Oil protesters of ‘illegal criminal damage’ 

Mr Shapps, responding to questions about the paint protest on LBC during a round of broadcast interviews, said: ‘It is illegal criminal damage and I will leave that to the authorities.’

 Mr Cunningham, in another video posted by JSO, said: ‘This department oversees our energy policy and we know from last month that the Climate Change Committee, the Government’s independent watchdog for climate change policy, denounced the Government’s efforts against climate change. 

‘They said that they were far less sure that the Government would achieve net zero than it had been just one year ago.

‘And they specifically said that the Government needs to stop issuing new oil and gas licences because it is not compatible with a net zero future.’ 

Ms May said the department is ‘failing on their only purpose’ and that the climate situation is ‘getting really dangerous’. 

Conservative Party chairman Greg Hands, posting a picture on social media of Westminster Bridge being blocked by JSO supporters, called the demonstration ‘unacceptable’. 

Two Just Stop Oil supporters have painted the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

The activists (pictured being detained) are demanding that the UK government immediately halt all new licences and consents for new oil, gas and coal projects

The stunts are just the latest example of the group’s antics in London – in a week that has already seen members of the public lose their patience and confront them.

The group- who have been causing chaos on the streets of London for over 10 weeks – has said that this week will be ‘its biggest protest ever.’ 

Yesterday, a slow march on London’s Blackfriars Bridge was, however, met with fury from a skateboarder who began swinging at the eco-campaigners with his board.

The skateboarder was filmed repeatedly swinging his board at protestors wearing luminous orange jackets, in a furious confrontation on Blackfriars Bridge.

The man, wearing a burgundy cap and matching shorts, attempted to hit the protestors before throwing a bag at them.

The incident was part of the group’s wider campaign to ‘paralyse London’ on a day that saw them slow march across 15 separate locations.

Undeterred by the groups efforts, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak yesterday said he would not be giving in to the ‘eco zealots’ threatening to disrupt the ‘British summer’.

He instead claimed the UK would ‘transition to net zero’ in a ‘sensible, practical way’ as he argued Just Stop Oil’s protests are not a ‘constructive way to tackle climate change’. 

Following the stunt officers were seen removing the detritus from the scene of the Whitehall building 

The march was met with fury from a skateboarder who began swinging at the eco-campaigners with his board

The environmental group has repeatedly hit the headlines this summer after protesters campaigning under Just Stop Oil’s banner halted play at Wimbledon and interrupted a live Channel 4 recording.

Just Stop Oil’s demonstrations have repeatedly caused clashes with furious members of the public who have been seen ripping up the protesters signs and throwing them off the road.

The eco-mob’s protests see them block traffic by walking slowly down main roads in luminous orange vests. 

MailOnline has approached the Metropolitan Police for more information. 

A Just Stop Oil climate activist (L) is detained by a police officer as members of the group marched slowly in Parliament Square today

Just Stop Oil protestors comply with Police and leave Kennington Road today

Just Stop Oil hold a slow march protest on Kennington Road this morning