You all know who Bansky is, don’t you? Perhaps the most famous, or infamous, artist alive. To some a genius, to others a vandal. The pseudonymous English graffiti artist, political activist, film director and painter! The undoubtedly most controversial street artist to emerge on the global stage! We may have no idea about his identity after 20 years on the graffiti scene, however, through his pictorial and satirical messages he definitely makes a huge impact on the street art business.
Recently, a hoax duping thousands of people online, was spread once again about the British graffiti artist. Bansky was allegedly arrested by police in his London art studio and has had his identity revealed. According to the highly refutable website National Report, a “news” website consisting entirely of fake stories, the artist was arrested by Metropolitan Police at his art studio after he was traced by a “24- hour Anti-Graffiti Task Force”. The City of London Police disclosed Bansky’s real name and identity, as Paul Horner, aged 35 and born in Liverpool, after hours of questioning him. The BBC has confirmed this information with Bansky’s PR Agent Jo Brooks and with Pest Control, the website that has accurate information about the graffiti artist and acts on his behalf.
Due to the detailed information from the police and even the quotes from people close to Bansky that the official article provided, the material used seemed accurate and undeniably real. In order to achieve that, London Police Chief Lyndon Edwards held a press conference to answer questions about Paul’s Horner (aka Bansky) arrest.
As he quoted, “We had a 24-hour Anti-Graffiti Task Force monitoring different groups where Banksy was known to frequent. We received word that around 2am a group of individuals left a flat speculated to be one of Banky’s art studios. This group was followed by agents and once vandalism had occurred, we then arrested the group, 5 men total. These individuals all had ID on them except for one, and that is the one we believed to be Banksy,” Edwards said. “We then raided the studio where the group was last seen leaving from. Inside we found thousands of dollars of counterfeit money along with future projects of vandalism. We also found a passport and ID of a Paul Horner who matched the description of the man that we are currently holding.” Edwards continued, “Horner is currently being held without bail on charges of vandalism, conspiracy, racketeering and counterfeiting. We are also holding the other four individuals whose names we are not releasing at this time.”
In a state of confusion and shock, the general public uploaded to Twitter the latest information to discuss the situation, and made Bansky a trending topic in the UK with over 27.9k tweets about the latest news. One user, being horrified with what happened tweeted “Free Bansky!” whilst another tried to be comical by tweeting “I’m the real Bansky.”
What actually helped to identify it as a hoax, in parallel with that chaotic situation that was occurring, were the several confusing detailed information mentioned in the article. In fact, London Police Chief Lyndon Edwards does not exist. Bansky was arrested by the Metropolitan Police and the City of London Police, two different forces. This cannot happen. Additionally, do not forget the case that police cannot release pictures of people being arrested (no, it definitely doesn’t), so how did they actually managed to release photos of Bansky being arrested? One interesting factor in that decision, was that the same article was circulating last year as a press release, with the only difference being Paul William Horner, a 39 year old male instead of Paul Horner, a 35 year old. Finally, as if you needed any more proof, Banksy’s PR agent Jo Brooks has already tweeted saying it was a hoax.
Remember, this is not the first time a Banksy rumor scandal has tricked many online users. So now, everyone back in your boxes until the next hoax appears.
By: Daphne Tsouvala
Published in Scan- Lancaster University Newspaper
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