Four people were arrested Tuesday at British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s estate in northern England, one of whom entered the property to defecate in Sunak’s private lake as a form of political protest.
North Yorkshire Police confirmed that four men between the ages of 20 and 52 were arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass, with “questioning and enquiries” ongoing.
A group called “Youth Demand” took credit for the splashy stunt, which it described as “a parting gift to Rishi Sunak and the Tories for the last 14 years of service.”
“From Number 10 to Number 2, let’s face it: [Sunak’s] done a shit job, and the Tories are facing an electoral wipe-out,” Youth Demand wrote in a press statement on its website, referring to the prime minister’s address at 10 Downing Street and then to the nature of the group’s latest protest.
Video that Youth Demand shared on social media begins with a man later identified as “Oliver” closing a gate on Sunak’s property and purposefully walking down a grassy embankment toward the multi-millionaire’s private lake.
He pauses momentarily to set aside his raincoat, revealing a long-sleeved shirt that reads, in all-caps, “EAT SHIT RISHI.” He then gingerly lowers himself into the lake, lowers his pants, and appears to pass a bowel movement in the lake.
Oliver explained his motives in a written statement released afterward.
“We have so much to thank the Tories for: from crumbling schools, shit in the rivers and a collapsing NHS; to creating a nation with more food banks than McDonalds and 4.3 million UK children living in poverty,” he said.
“From allowing their mates to get filthy rich from selling weapons to battle-test on toddlers in Gaza, or by drilling for more oil as the world burns – it’s quite a legacy!”
A second video features an unfailingly polite police officer informing the group they’re on private property and “committing an offense.” The four men were presumably detained soon after that.
Conservatives in the U.K. are on the brink of a potential political disaster ahead of a July 4 snap election. Sunak could become the first sitting prime minister to lose his seat in a general election, with the Conservative Party potentially in danger of failing to win enough seats even to become the official opposition.
