New Banksy Mural Quickly Censored in London

Banksy has struck again, painting a mural of a wig-wearing judge using his gavel to beat a downed protester whose sign is marred with blood—on the walls of the Royal Courts of Justice, no less. The anonymous artist confirmed the London artwork as his on Instagram on Monday. Earlier in the day, a witness described seeing court guards trying to stop people taking pictures of the artwork on the courts' Queen's Building, per the Guardian. The guards later covered it up with "large sheets of black plastic," per Sky News.

Many have interpreted the mural as a response to Saturday's arrests of 890 protesters at a London demonstration in support of Palestine Action, an organization that has been active in protests against Israel's war in Gaza. It was banned as a terrorist organization by the British government in July. Of those arrested Saturday, 857 were cited under the Terrorism Act for showing support for a proscribed group. The law "criminalizes the wearing, display or publication of anything that 'arouses reasonable suspicion' of support for a banned group," per the New York Times. Hundreds of protesters had sat silently, holding signs reading, "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action."

Defend Our Juries, the group that organized the demonstration, said that to consider such action terrorism "is objectively preposterous and profoundly corrosive to the principles of free expression." A rep added that Banksy's art "powerfully depicts the brutality unleashed by Yvette Cooper on protesters by proscribing Palestine Action." Cooper introduced the ban as UK home secretary, a post she held until Friday, when she was shifted to the Foreign Office. Though Defend Our Juries has called on the new home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, to abandon the "unenforceable" ban, Defense Secretary John Healey promised Sunday that Mahmood would be "just as tough" on the group as Cooper, per the Guardian.