Churchill Statue in Parliament Square Defaced with Political Graffiti
A 38-year-old man has been arrested by the Metropolitan Police after the iconic statue of Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, Westminster, was defaced with graffiti early on Friday morning. The bronze sculpture was sprayed with red paint bearing phrases such as "Zionist war criminal," "Stop the Genocide," "Free Palestine," "Never again is Now," and "Globalise the Intifada."
Swift Police Response and Arrest Details
According to a Met spokesperson, officers were on the scene within two minutes after the incident was reported shortly after 4am on Friday, February 27. The man was initially arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage. Later in the afternoon, he was further arrested on suspicion of supporting the proscribed organisation Palestine Action. He remains in police custody as investigations continue.
Claim of Responsibility and Motivations
The Dutch group Free the Filton 24 claimed responsibility for the action, posting a video on Instagram that appears to show a man in red coveralls painting the statue. The group describes itself as comprising family and friends of 24 Palestine Action activists charged over a 2024 break-in at a UK site of Israeli defence firm Elbit.
Olax Outis, who identified himself as Dutch and part of the action group, claimed to be the individual involved. In a statement on Instagram, Mr Outis said he defaced the statue to highlight "horrible human rights violations" in a country run by "colonisers who refuse to listen to their people." He added that the British government should be held accountable before the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Explaining his choice of target, Mr Outis stated, "Churchill is but a symbol of the same political corruption," and remarked that he would similarly target statues of contemporary politicians like Keir Starmer or Yvette Cooper if they were erected.
Official Condemnation and Clean-Up Efforts
The statue has been cordoned off, and clean-up operations began on Friday morning. A Greater London Authority spokesperson expressed appall at the vandalism, confirming that work is underway to remove the graffiti as quickly as possible.
Downing Street also condemned the act, with a Number 10 spokesman calling it "completely abhorrent" and a "disgrace." The spokesman emphasised, "Churchill was a great Briton. This Government will always stand up for our values and the perpetrator must be held to account. We're glad the police have made an arrest."
History of Vandalism and Broader Context
This is not the first time the Churchill statue has been vandalised. In June 2020, during Black Lives Matter protests following the death of George Floyd in the US, graffiti accusing Churchill of racism was scrawled on the monument. Later that year, in October, an Extinction Rebellion activist was ordered to pay over £1,500 after painting "racist" on the statue's plinth during a climate protest.
The 12-foot monument, created by Ivor Roberts-Jones and unveiled in 1973 by Lady Clementine Churchill, is one of 12 statues in or around Parliament Square, which includes figures like Abraham Lincoln and Nelson Mandela.
In a related development, last December, the Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police announced that chanting the slogan "globalise the intifada" would lead to arrest. This decision followed the Bondi Beach terror attack in Australia and an attack at Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester on October 2.
