Acquitted Activist Defaces Churchill Statue

A pro-Palestinian activist won’t face charges for vandalizing the statue of Sir Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, even after admitting in court to spray-painting political messages on it.

Caspar San Giorgi, 39, was found not guilty of criminal damage by Southwark Crown Court this week. This followed an incident in February when he climbed onto the Churchill statue and used red spray paint to inscribe messages, such as “Free Palestine,” “Stop the Genocide,” and labeling Britain’s WWII leader a “Zionist War Criminal.”

Although the prosecution argued that the spray paint caused around £7,000 in damages to the public property, the jury sided with San Giorgi. They concluded that he was primarily trying to convey a message to then-Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Parliament, and that the paint had not permanently marked the statue, as reported by the BBC.

San Giorgi, who also goes by the name Olax Outis, appeared in Parliament Square around 4 a.m. on February 27, carrying a ladder and cans of spray paint.

Before climbing the statue, he took off his coat to reveal a red boiler suit emblazoned with “I support Palestine Action.” This group was labeled a terrorist organization by the British government in 2025, making any public support for it illegal.

During his trial, San Giorgi declared himself a “citizen of The Hague,” which is home to the International Criminal Court (ICC). This court has labeled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal concerning the ongoing conflict in Gaza that escalated after the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023.

He expressed, “If I had a larger canvas and more time, I would have written that if Keir Starmer doesn’t come to The Hague, The Hague will come for him. My wish is to see him on trial in The Hague.”

San Giorgi expressed that, regardless of the trial’s outcome, he would be proud to have spoken about injustice. “Whether I get acquitted, deported, or imprisoned for years, I have accounted for my actions,” he told the jury. “I will accept your judgment.”

The Churchill statue has been a contentious symbol in recent years, especially due to its location near the Houses of Parliament. It has faced vandalism numerous times during the Black Lives Matter protests. The threat of damage was so considerable that local authorities encased the statue in a grey box in June 2020 to protect it from potential vandalism.