Caspar San Giorgio charged after Winston Churchill statue in Parliament Square defaced
Caspar San Giorgio, 38, has been charged with criminal damage after slogans were sprayed across the bronze statue of Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square. The arrest and subsequent charge come amid inquiries that include a further terrorism-related suspicion and the decision to cordon and clean the monument.
Caspar San Giorgio charged with criminal damage
Police arrested a 38-year-old man, identified as Caspar San Giorgio and of no fixed address, shortly after 04: 00 GMT on Friday and charged him just before 04: 00 on Saturday with criminal damage. He has been remanded into custody and was due to appear at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court later.
Graffiti slogans sprayed on the Winston Churchill statue
The bronze statue was defaced overnight with multiple messages in red paint, including "Zionist war criminal", "Stop the Genocide", "Free Palestine", "Never again is Now" and "Globalise the Intifada". The statue was cordoned off and cleaning work was under way on Friday morning.
Metropolitan Police actions and suspected links to a proscribed group
Officers from the Metropolitan Police were alerted shortly after 4am and the force said the first officers were on the scene within two minutes. Initially arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated criminal damage, the man was later further arrested on suspicion of supporting Palestine Action, which is a proscribed organisation, under the Terrorism Act. He remains in custody.
Official statements from No 10, the Home Office and Greater London Authority
Government spokespeople described the vandalism as "completely abhorrent" and called for the perpetrator to be held to account. A Home Office spokesperson said Sir Winston Churchill is a figure of great national pride and described those defacing the statue as a disgrace. A Greater London Authority spokesperson said they were appalled and that work was under way to remove the graffiti as quickly as possible.
Community reactions and concerns over extremist imagery
An image of the defaced monument shared on X prompted commentary from campaign and community figures. Dave Rich, director of policy for the Community Security Trust, highlighted the presence of "Free Palestine" alongside what he described as a Hamas red triangle on the image and warned that the extremism was not only a threat to Jews. The Jewish Leadership Council said it was disgusted, calling the targeting of a statue of a British wartime leader a perverse combination of hatred and disdain. Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, condemned the defacement and invoked the dangers of forgetting history.
History of vandalism and details of the Churchill monument
The 12ft (3. 6m) bronze monument by Ivor Roberts-Jones was unveiled in 1973 by Lady Clementine Churchill and stands on the north-east corner of Parliament Square. The statue has been vandalised on several previous occasions, including in June 2020 when it was scrawled with graffiti accusing Churchill of being a racist during Black Lives Matter protests triggered by George Floyd's death. In October 2020 an Extinction Rebellion activist was ordered to pay more than £1, 500 after painting "racist" on the plinth during a climate protest.
What makes this notable is the overlap of criminal-damage allegations and a subsequent terrorism-related line of inquiry, combined with prior public warnings: last December the Metropolitan and Greater Manchester police warned that anyone found using the slogan "Globalise the Intifada" would face arrest, a decision taken after two separate terror attacks — one at Bondi Beach in Australia and another at Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester on 2 October. The immediate consequence of the latest incident has been an arrest, a charge, an ongoing custody period and the temporary cordoning and cleaning of a high-profile national monument.
