British BLM protesters topple statue of Bristol slave trader Edward Colston

Black Lives Matters protesters in Bristol have pulled down a statue of the slave trader Edward Colston.

Demonstrators attached a rope to the Grade II-listed statue on Colston Avenue on Sunday before pulling it to the ground as crowds cheered. They then jumped on it and rolled it down the street to the harbour before pushing it into Bristol Harbour.

The historian David Olusoga comparing the action to the toppling of the statue of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. However, the home secretary, Priti Patel, urged the police to respond. She told Sky News: “I think that is utterly disgraceful and that speaks to the acts of public disorder that have actually now become a distraction from the cause in which people are protesting about.”

Supt Andy Bennett, of Somerset and Avon police, said his force was carrying out an investigation into criminal damage.

The mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees, said: “I know the removal of the Colston Statue will divide opinion, as the statue itself has done for many years. However, it’s important to listen to those who found the statue to represent an affront to humanity.”

The bronze statue, erected in 1895, has long been a focal point for anger at the city’s role in the slave trade and the continued commemoration of those who were involved in it.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jun/07/blm-protesters-topple-statue-of-bristol-slave-trader-edward-colston