Outside the Superior Court of Justice of the United Kingdom there is only one shadow. Banksy’s mural has been erased. This Wednesday, several workers have cleaned the graffiti, protected behind a protective fence of pedestrian eyes, while some curious passersby took photographs of the scene. The work of the street artist – who appeared on Monday – showed a judge hitting a protester lying on the ground, in full controversy by the climbing of arrests linked to the Palestine Action group, illegalized by the Government. Yesterday, sources from the main British judicial headquarters indicated that the mural should be eliminated because the building is protected by its historical importance.
In the painting, the judge, dressed in toga and wig, whipped a protester who carried a banks seemingly stained with blood. Banksy claimed on his Instagram account the authorship of the image that soon became viral on social networks. Neither the mural nor the publication alluded to a specific situation. But they coincided with the open controversy in the United Kingdom for the repression of protests in support of Palestinian Action, just a few days after some 900 people were arrested in one of these concentrations.
The London Metropolitan Police confirmed that he received a complaint for criminal damage in relation to the Graffiti and assured that he keeps an investigation open. The artist, whose identity is a mystery, reflects in his work social, political and environmental problems throughout the world.
Banksy acted again after last May 30 appeared one of his works in Marseille (France). In this case, he returned to the British capital after creating in August 2024 nine works of animal theme, including the famous police garita located in the City (Financial District) and converted into a Pirañas tank. His works are very quoted, reaching tens of millions of euros at auctions.
Other deleted works
The judge’s mural hitting a protester adds to a list of Banksy works that have been removed by preservation, restoration or considering acts of vandalism. Among them are the graffiti in the London Zoo of a gorilla raising the blind door for the animals to escape; The police garrita converted into a piranha tank and the “stop” signal with three military drones about it.