Winston Churchill Statue Defaced on D-Day Anniversary Amid George Floyd Protests in London

Ongoing and widespread protests provoked by the death of African-American George Floyd at the hands of white police officers are taking place in almost every major city across the United States, as well as in other many capitals around the world, and London is no exception.

A statue of the iconic British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was vandalized on Saturday, on the 76th anniversary of D-Day. The day marks beach landings in Normandy by Allied forces, led in part by the British army commander, as hundreds of thousands of soldiers en masse invaded northern France during the Second World War.

The statue, located in London’s Parliament Square, was defaced with the letters ACAB, which stand for 'All Cops Are B**ches'.

Though the vandals have not been identified or apprehended, many put the blame for the illegal act on participants of Saturday’s George Floyd protests in London, with some arguing that police were not doing enough to protect the statue.

Police officers are keeping a tight watch around the statue of Winston Churchill on Parliament Square after it was graffitied. @LBC pic.twitter.com/8X8JTjzNk8

— Rachael Venables (@rachaelvenables) June 6, 2020

“The statue of Sir Winston Churchill, the man who guided our nation through its darkest hour, recognised as one of the greatest ever Britons, has been defaced,” tweeted Darren Grimes, a UK TV commentator. “Where are the police?”

The statue of Sir Winston Churchill, the man who guided our nation through its darkest hour, recognised as one of the greatest ever Britons, has been defaced. Where are the police? pic.twitter.com/AzA6hODGJ1

— Darren Grimes (@darrengrimes_) June 6, 2020

Another TV personality, Piers Morgan of ITV, denounced the incident, tweeting that “defacing Sir Winston Churchill's statue on the 76th anniversary of D-Day is not a good way to make your point”.

Memo to protestors in Westminster today: defacing Sir Winston Churchill's statue on the 76th anniversary of D-Day is not a good way to make your point.

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) June 6, 2020

Police have barricaded the statue, located within an area in which many of the protesters were said to have gathered.

Saturday’s protest in the British capital is part of ongoing anti-racism and anti-police-brutality protests taking place in many parts of the world, triggered by the death of an African-American named George Floyd at the hands of white police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on 25 May.