Despite it being largely ignored by protesters, riot police formed a protective ring around the Churchill statue
Police officers have been mocked for standing guard around a statue of Winston Churchill during Kill the Bill protests in London.
Demonstrations against the police, crime, sentencing and courts bill were held in the capital on Saturday, with protesters gathering in Parliament Square – home to the statue of the former British prime minister.
As has been the case during earlier Kill the Bill protests in recent weeks, there were scuffles involving some protesters and the police, with a total of 26 arrests made.
With that in mind, many saw the decision to surround the statue with officers as a disproportionate move on a day when police resources would have likely been stretched…
https://twitter.com/EmmaKennedy/status/1378418368739479552
https://twitter.com/MarkBartlam/status/1378613846043021312
wtf is wrong with these snowflakes that they're so petrified that someone will hurt their statue https://t.co/KpOI64DNkN
— jonn elledge (@JonnElledge) April 3, 2021
https://twitter.com/KatyFBrand/status/1378404830578888704
If I was planning a big heist in London I’d definitely make a few threats against the Churchill statue first https://t.co/29WUXma4sE
— Tom Jamieson (@jamiesont) April 3, 2021
Cyclists: forget hivis and helmets. Simply ziptie a statue of Churchill onto your bike.
— Real Gaz on a proper bike: gazza_d@toot.bike (@gazza_d) April 4, 2021
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) April 3, 2021
The police’s decision to deploy so many officers to ‘defend’ the statue stems from last year, when it was vandalised during protests.
The words “is a racist” were written beneath Churchill’s name on the statue’s plinth during climate protests last September. Three months prior to that it was vandalised in a similar fashion during Black Lives Matter protests and was later boarded up to protect it.
Last summer saw protestors in Bristol pull down a statue of slave trader Edward Colston, later prompting government to call for the protection of statues.
