Winston Churchill statue in London hit with graffiti declaring him racist again

The statue opposite the UK parliament was previously defaced in June,

The statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square is seen with graffiti reading  'is a racist' on the plinth, in London, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020.(AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

The statue of Winston Churchill in London's Parliament Square has been spray painted again Source: AP

A statue of former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill opposite parliament has been sprayed with graffiti by protesters declaring him a racist for the second time in four months.

The plinth of the World War II leader's statue on Parliament Square was sprayed in yellow paint with the words "is a racist".

"We have arrested a man in Parliament Square on suspicion of causing criminal damage to the Winston Churchill statue," the Metropolitan police said on Twitter.
The statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square is seen with graffiti reading 'is a racist' on the plinth, in London, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020
The statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square is seen with graffiti reading 'is a racist' on the plinth, in London, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020 Source: AP
The statue was defaced in June during a fractious end to a mostly peaceful protest over the death of African-American George Floyd in Minneapolis, prompting authorities to board it up for a period.

It prompted Australian at those turning against historical figures, suggesting they were no longer seeing the bigger picture.



"This is nuts - Churchill statue in London boarded up to protect against demonstrators. Don’t people get it? He saved their families and the world from Nazi tyranny!" Mr Frydenberg said in a tweet.

"As Churchill once said ‘the farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see'."

Mr Floyd's death in police custody in May sparked protests about racial inequality across the United States and Europe and reignited a debate in Britain about monuments to those involved in the country's imperialist past.


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Published 11 September 2020 7:20am
Updated 11 September 2020 7:26am
Source: Reuters, SBS


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