'It just felt like the right thing to do': Warehouse worker tells how he joined four Army cadet volunteers to scrub off 'Churchill was a racist' graffiti after his statue was defaced by an angry mob of Black Lives Matter protesters
A group of volunteers including four Army cadets cleaned up a memorial to Winston Churchill in London this morning after it was defaced by activists during yesterday's violent Black Lives Matter protests.
The men scrubbed graffiti off the statue one day after the phrase 'was racist' was added in spray paint by protesters below the wartime leader's name, leaving the monument reading: 'Churchill was a racist'.
A fifth man, a warehouse worker called Max, 25, who had just finished a night shift and went to Saturday's protests, also cleaned up, telling MailOnline he went there because it 'just felt like it was the right thing to do.'
A group of youong men of remove graffiti from a statue of Winston Churchill at Parliament Square in London this morning
The young men scrub the graffiti off the statue of the former prime minister this morning, one day after it was defaced
A council employee later turned up to clean graffiti from the statue of Winston Churchill at Parliament Square this morning
Demonstrators raise their fists in the air after climbing onto the statue in Parliament Square during the Black Lives Matters protest on Sunday
The volunteers, who brought their own cleaning products, only stopped and left when a professional cleaner - remarkably called Winston - also turned up this morning and said he had been asked to do the job professionally.
It came as the clean-up also began in Bristol as council crews removed BLM placards and used chemicals and spray to clean graffit off the plinth from which the statue of slave trader Edward Colston was torn down yesterday.
Max (pictured), 25, a warehouse worker who attended the BLM protests on Saturday, said he felt compelled to clean the graffiti from Churchill's statue this morning
Speaking to MailOnline today, Max said: 'For me it was a decision I made last night. I worked during a long night shift and I received the news that the statue was being defaced. I just felt like it was the right thing to do.
'It was completely independent, I thought to myself I'd be the only one there. I didn't mean to antagonise or upset anyone to do it. When I got there I was pleased to see four young Army cadets already cleaning the statue.
'I did actually attend the Black Lives Matter protest on Saturday in support of the movement. I feel strongly to show solidarity. I understand the actions that carried on late into last night were that of a minority.
'But I will not have war memorials defaced. The violence and to see the anger and hatred towards the police was very, very hard to watch for me. It came to standing up for what's right.'
Max added: 'We brought our own cleaning products and they weren't really up to the job. We only left because remarkably a gentleman called Winston asked us to stop because he'd been asked to do the job professionally.'
Yesterday, one activist even scaled the huge statue to stick a 'Black Lives Matter' placard to the wartime leader's torso. Home Secretary Priti Patel had branded those who had defaced the monument 'repulsive criminals'.
She said: 'Winston Churchill is one of the greatest Britons who ever lived. We have him to thank for our very freedom to protest. The vandals who did this are repulsive criminals who I want to see brought to justice.'
A man tries to clean graffitis from the statue of Winston Churchill at Parliament Square in London this morning
A man cleans graffiti from the Churchill statue today in the aftermath of UK protests against the death of George Floyd
The volunteers brought their own cleaning products as they tried to remove graffiti from the Churchill statue today
Under the Churchill status yesterday, a protester had stuck a sign laying out why they believed he was a racist, saying he called the Indians a 'beastly' people and supported the use of poison gas against 'uncivilised tribes'.
Some protestors posed for photos in front of the defaced statue and a group of activists took a knee around it in Parliament Square. Four uniformed police stood nearby as the crowd took photographs.
Banners with messages such as 'British Colonialism is to Blame' and 'What if it was your son?' had been left at the base of the column. A white man later stripped away the banners and walked away as the crowd shouted at him.
The area has become a key gathering place for activists demanding racial justice and opposing the Government. The £30,000 statue was unveiled by his widow Clementine in 1973 and created by Ivor Roberts-Jones.
Activists stand around the Churchill statue yesterday after it was daubed in graffiti during the Black Lives Matter protests
Protesters hold placards at the Churchill statue during the Black Lives Matter protest rally in Parliament Square yesterday
It is not the first time it has been defaced. In 2000, it was sprayed with red paint to give the appearance of blood dripping from its mouth, while during the 2010 student protests it was defaced and urinated on.
It comes after the Prime Minister said the anti-racism demonstrations had been 'subverted by thuggery' after protesters tore down a statue of a slave trader in Bristol and clashed with police in the capital.
Scotland Yard said 12 people were arrested and eight officers injured in London yesterday, while in Bristol protesters toppled the bronze memorial to slave trader Edward Colston and dumped it into the harbour.
Black Lives Matter demonstrations were carried out peacefully for much of yesterday in London, but there were clashes with police on Whitehall, with bottles thrown at officers in one incident near the Cenotaph.
Most of yesterday's arrests related to public order offences, while one was for criminal damage following an incident at the Cenotaph. Scotland Yard said 29 people were arrested and 14 officers were injured on Saturday.
Police officers stand in a line next to protesters during a Black Lives Matter protest rally in Westminster today
Police clash with Black Lives Matter protesters during the demonstration in Westminster yesterday
Police clash with protesters during the Black Lives Matter protest rally in Westminster yesterday
'It just felt like the right thing to do': Warehouse worker tells how he joined four Army cadet volunteers to scrub off 'Churchill was a racist' graffiti after his statue was defaced by an angry mob of Black Lives Matter protesters
!['It just felt like the right thing to do': Warehouse worker tells how he joined four Army cadet volunteers to scrub off 'Churchill was a racist' graffiti after his statue was defaced by an angry mob of Black Lives Matter protesters]()
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June 08, 2020
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