Watch: Anti-racism protestors topple statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol, England
The incident occurred during a protest organised in solidarity with the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement.
Well that put an end to the debate (unless someone tries to put it back up) slave trader Edward Colston statue taken down in #Bristol #BlackLivesMattters pic.twitter.com/NYiln6gz65
— Alon Aviram (@AlAviram) June 7, 2020
Anti-racism protestors in Bristol, United Kingdom pulled down a statue of 17th-century slave trader Edward Colston on Sunday. A number of videos of the statue being toppled and dumped into the Bristol harbour were posted on social media.
The moment a statue of slave trader Edward Colston toppled into Bristol’s harbour. ‘It’s what he deserves. I’ve been waiting all my life for this moment’ someone told me in the moments after. pic.twitter.com/6juqVrsJ6V
— Sarah Turnnidge (@sarah_turnnidge) June 7, 2020
The protestors participated in a demonstration against racism triggered by the death of George Floyd, an African-American citizen who died during an arrest after a white Minneapolis officer knelt on his neck. The incident has sparked a series of protests against racism across the world.
The statue of Colston had stood in Bristol since 1895, but many petitions to remove it had surfaced, CNN reported. Colston was born in Bristol, but his slave-trading activities were based in London. The local police said that the Sunday protest was attended by approximately 10,000 people.