Banksy To Be Unmasked As Police Open Investigation Into His Latest Artwork

Notorious political street artist Banksy seems to get unmasked every six months or so (hello, Robin Gunningham) but even still it seems the establishment are keen make this official after police launched an investigation into his latest artwork at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

Banksy put up a piece depicting a judge in a wig and gown bashing a protester holding a blood-splattered placard, which pretty much speaks for itself really…

Just one hour after this new Banksy went up, mocking the courts for censoring protesters, the courts responded by covering it up.

Ultimately proving his point…

The artwork appeared after nearly 900 people were arrested for protesting the government’s ban on Palestine Action on Saturday.

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “On Monday September 8, officers received a report of criminal damage to the side of the Royal Courts of Justice. Inquiries continue.”

It’s quite telling that Banksy has graffiti’d literally hundreds of political messages and slogans all over the world for 25 years, and they just let him get on with it while occasionally covering the odd one up. Now that he’s dared to criticise the crackdown on protesters (specifically, pro-Palestinian protesters), the police have launched an investigation with a view to bring criminal proceedings against him.

They’re framing the whole thing as ‘criminal damage’, but I think it’s pretty clear what the real issue is. Per LBC, a criminal damage conviction holds a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment if it is deemed to have caused more than £5,000 of damage. If the damage is under £5,000, it carries a maximum sentence of three months or a £2,500 fine.

Let’s see how it plays out for old Robin Banksy.

For the guy who paid $300K for a fake Banksy NFT, click HERE. There was a happy ending, though.