Graffiti raids across London as police sanitize city ready for Olympics
McDonalds is one of the official sponsors for the 2012 Olympics.
According to the London Vandal website, ex-graffiti artists - most of whom had given up illegal graffiti 15 years ago - were being arrested without reason and being placed on bail conditions so as to prohibit any graffiti to do with the Olympics.
The London Vandal reported that “raids were being carried out on addresses across the length and breadth of London” and that once the arrestees “arrived at the station, the ex-graffiti writers spotted thirty or more familiar faces from the past”.
The website added:
"It was around then that the graffiti artists realised what point the police were trying to make with them. Having been arrested, they were questioned about what they considered petty matters - accusations of criminal damage in the ’90s, questions about websites and magazines that they were involved in. After being briefly questioned about these seemingly irrelevant matters, they were told that they were to be bailed until November on the condition that they did not use any form of railway in London (overground, tube or tram), carry spray paint (or other graffiti tools, presumably) at any time, or travel within a mile of any Olympic area".
And:
"They felt that they were arrested for one reason - in order to place bail restrictions upon them that would supposedly discourage graffiti from being painted during the Olympics".
Meanwhile guerilla group Brandalism says the strict enforcement of branding regulations for the London 2012 Olympics has been a strong part of provoking their reaction.
From the Brandalism website:
"Installed over five days in one continuous road trip that has covered the length of the country, the Brandalism crew have hit 33 spots in 5 cities. Edited and developed on the fly, this project sees the culmination of 8 months work and we will be adding more content to the site after we get some serious sleep, updates will follow daily…"
More pics - http://www.buzzfeed.com/copyranter/brandalism-hijacks-30-uk-billboards-pre-olympics