A man has been arrested after a Windrush exhibition was vandalised in South London – though police do not believe it was a hate crime. There was outrage from community leaders this week after portraits honouring the Windrush generation were desecrated in the early hours of Thursday morning (July 3), with organisers describing the incident as a ‘blatant act of racial hatred’.
But as Scotland Yard announced the arrest and questioning of a 24-year-old this afternoon (Saturday July 5), the force said it does not currently think the incident was racial. “Based on enquiries carried out so far, the incident is not being treated as a hate crime. Further enquiries will take place to establish the circumstances,” said a Met spokesperson.
Sharing a photo on X, a Lambeth Council spokesperson said: “We welcome news that Lambeth Met Police have made an arrest following the sad vandalism of the Windrush Untold Stories exhibition in Brixton. The update follows Cllr Donatus Anyanwu visiting the site today with Labour MP Seema Malhotra and community leaders who are featured.”
Reacting to the incident on Thursday morning, one local resident, of Caribbean heritage, told MyLondon: “They’re idiots. They are insulting the people that helped build their country. And I feel sorry for them. They should be locked up. People are sick, they’re insulting their ancestors.” Her mum added: “It’s absolutely disgraceful. Why? What’s wrong with people?”
The exhibition was created by Friends of Windrush Square in collaboration with the Empathy Museum, Photofusion, Born or Made, and the Black Cultural Archives. It aims to honour the history and contributions of the Windrush Generation through storytelling and visual arts, including work by the late Clovis Salmon, also known as Sam the Wheels, a pioneering documentarian and photographer.
Superintendent Gabriel Cameron, who leads policing in Brixton, said: “We understand that those in the community will feel distressed about vandalism to the Windrush exhibition in Brixton. We believe that this was not a hate crime, and I want to reassure anyone with concerns, that a man has now been arrested.
“Local neighbourhood officers have been in contact with the organiser of the exhibition, and remain in the area to respond to any questions or worries that people may have.”
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