[ad_1]
18-year-old boy accused of defacing Winston Churchill’s Westminster statue calling the war leader ‘racist’
- Benjamin Clark, 18, will appear in Westminster Magistrates Court on October 9
- He was arrested after Churchill’s pedestal was smeared with yellow paint yesterday.
- A slogan was sprinkled on the stone pedestal marking the wartime leader as ‘racist’
- Scotland Yard confirmed that 680 people were arrested during the 10-day protest
A teenager was charged with criminal damages after the statue of Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square was painted with graffiti.
Benjamin Clark, 18, of Hertford, will appear in Westminster Magistrates Court on October 9, the Metropolitan Police said.
He was arrested after the pedestal of the former prime minister’s monument was defaced with yellow graffiti on Thursday that included the words “he’s a racist.”
Benjamin Clark, 18, has been accused of defacing the Winston Churchill statue in Parliament Square during this week’s Extinction Rebellion protest. The teenager is due to appear in Westminster Magistrates Court on October 9.
Met Police Commander Jane Connors described the protests as ‘a significant challenge’
Clark was one of at least 680 people arrested in connection with the 10-day Extinction Rebellion protests in London.
Others have been detained on suspicion of obstructing the road and violating the protest conditions established in the Public Order Law since the actions began on September 1.
Commander Jane Connors described the protests as a “significant challenge” during a “public health crisis.”
“The public has the right to protest, but they have no right to cause disruption to London communities and businesses. That is why we took swift action to make a series of arrests, ”she said.
“This has been a large police operation and we will continue to investigate those we suspect of crimes, so the number of arrests is likely to increase.”
