Why was Charlie Gilmour jailed in 2011? Metropolitan Police called ‘disgrace’ after pro-Palestine protesters climb Royal Artillery Memorial

Charlie Gilmour, son of Pink Floyd's David Gilmour was arrested in 2011 after he was seen swinging from a Union Jack on the Cenotaph, the war memorial in London. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison for the same. He was 21 years old at the time and was a part of a student fees protest, according to The Guardian.

In a recent pro-Palestine protest being held in London's Hyde Park Corner, protestors were seen climbing the Royal Artillery Memorial. This seemingly brought back memories of Charlie Gilmour swinging from the Union Jack in 2011.

The Guardian reported that video footage showed at least two pro-Palestine protestors climbing the memorial on Wednesday, November 15, 2023. The video showed police officers talking to the protestors who agreed to climb down. It is worth noting that the protest was reportedly timed to coincide with a vote on the calls for a ceasefire in Gaza in the House of Commons.

Police later made a statement claiming that while the protestors climbing the war memorial was an "inflammatory" act, no laws had been broken. When people saw the video and heard the statement, they were furious and took to social media to call out the Metropolitan police with some even calling them a "disgrace."

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Metropolitan police say no law was broken by protestors

During a pro-Palestine protest on Wednesday, November 15, 2023, at least two protestors were seen climbing the Royal Artillery Memorial in London's Hyde Park. The protest happened after the demonstration at the Parliament Houses on November 15, 2023.

While the Metropolitan Police claimed that no laws were broken when the people climbed the memorial, the Home Secretary, James Cleverly slammed the protestors.

The police said that there had been people asking them online why the protestors weren't arrested. They explained that although the act was "inflammatory," no laws had been broken.

"In the absence of a law, officers cannot automatically arrest, but they can intervene and make it clear the behavior isn't acceptable," the police added.

However, the newly appointed Home Secretary said that a new law could be introduced after the protestors climbed the memorial. In a conversation with London Broadcasting Company (LBC) radio, Cleverly said that he deeply condemned the act of climbing memorial and the disrespecting martyrs.

"I'm not going to let my personal feelings cloud my judgment on this, but it is clearly wrong," the Home Secretary said.

The police also stated that the individuals who climbed to the war memorial were breakaway groups, and were dispersed in the Hyde Park Corner. They added that the dispersal order was in place across the parts of the City of Westminster Abbey from 7:50 pm Wednesday till 2 am Thursday.

As they condemned the act the police said that officers made "every effort to prevent it [from] happening."

As mentioned earlier many locals compared the pro-Palestine protesters climbing the memorial to Charlie Gilmour swinging the from Union Jack in 2011. They were also seemingly curious to know the difference between the two incidents.

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Why was Charlie Gilmour arrested?

The son of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, Charlie Gilmour, was arrested in 2011 when he was seen swinging from a Union Jack on a war memorial. He was protesting against the coalition government's program of austerity. He was arrested by the police and later sentenced to 16 months imprisonment on July 15, 2011.

"I would like to express my deepest apologies for the terrible insult to the thousands of people who died bravely for our country that my actions represented," Charlie Gilmour said in a statement.

As mentioned earlier, people were curious about the difference between the recent incident and the arrest of Charlie Gilmour. They wondered why the police were claiming that no laws were broken in the recent incident.

The police did state that they had arrested one person since they were carrying an "offensive weapon." The previously mentioned video also showed them stopping individuals from climbing the Royal Artillery Memorial in London's Hyde Park.