The charges stem from seven Palestinian activists spraying paint on a Scottish resort to protest the US president’s stance on Gaza.
Published August 28, 2026
Palestine activists accused of vandalizing a Scottish golf course owned by US President Donald Trump have been charged with “terrorism”, according to reports.
Sentences on a “terrorist scale” could be applied, The Guardian and The New York Times reported on Friday. Seven activists who spray-painted messages in support of Gaza and dug up the lawn of Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in Ayrshire last year have been charged with malicious damage with “terrorist links”, newspapers have reported.
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The first hearing in the case is scheduled to be held at the High Court in Glasgow on Monday 31 August.
The charges stem from protests on March 8, 2025, that targeted the resort over President Trump’s stance on Gaza. Activists from the British group sprayed red paint across the clubhouse, damaged the lawn and sprinklers, sprayed herbicide on the green space and painted “Gaza is not 4 Sale” across the grounds.
All seven defendants were charged with malicious damage to property under regular criminal law. But prosecutors’ 16-page indictment alleges the acts were “aggravated by terrorist ties.”
Action Palestine has been locked in a legal battle with Britain since the British government last year banned it as a “terrorist” group.
Co-founder Huda Anmoli said the indictment of those involved in the Turnberry protests made it clear that prosecutors were trying to appease President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“We engaged in direct action protests to save lives by stopping the flow of weapons used to kill Palestinians. This is the opposite of terrorism,” she said in a statement.
“By daring to spray paint on a golf course owned by the agitators who violated the interests of arms companies and enabled Prime Minister Netanyahu’s crimes, we have made a powerful enemy. The British government has chosen to appease them by criminalizing us as ‘terrorists’,” she added.
Earlier this week, the United States imposed sanctions on Masar Badir of Action for Palestine and the pro-Palestinian International Movement, as President Donald Trump’s administration ramps up a global crackdown on critics of Israel.
The US Treasury also on Wednesday also imposed a fine on Italian group Autistici Inventati, which provides digital services to left-wing organizations, including pro-Palestinian groups.
John McDonnell, a Labor member of the British Parliament and former chancellor of the exchequer, criticized the possible links to “terrorism” in the charges.
“The news that protesters who allegedly sprayed red paint on President Trump’s golf course could be sentenced as terrorists, coupled with President Trump’s own announcement that he is following the UK’s lead by banning Palestinian action as a ‘terrorist’ group, is deeply embarrassing for the UK.”
“Andy Burnham has inherited this mess from the previous government. This should be a wake-up call to reverse this absurd authoritarian ban before Starmer’s blueprint is adopted by repressive governments around the world to criminalize protest and suppress political dissent.”
