Protesters in Bristol have pulled down the statue of 17th-century slave trader Edward Colston.
Protesters dragged the statue of Edward Colston to Bristol harbourside during a Black Lives Matter protest rally.
Colston is believed to have transported over 80,000 people from West Africa.
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Edward Colston statue pulled down by BLM protesters in Bristol. Colston was a 17th century slave trader who has numerous landmarks named after him in Bristol. #BlackLivesMattters #blmbristol #ukprotests pic.twitter.com/JEwk3qKJx2
— Jack Grey (@_jackgrey) June 7, 2020
The statue, which has been in place since 1895, had been the subject of a petition to remove it due to his role as a slave trader.
Images showed crowds rushing to stamp on the statue, which stood in Colston Avenue, before it was rolled along the road and pushed into the harbour.
Officers have launched an investigation to identify a small group of people “who clearly committed an act of criminal damage” in pulling down a statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol, Avon and Somerset Police superintendent Andy Bennett said.
Protester John McAllister, 71, tore down black bin bags used to hide the statue to denounce it in front of fellow protesters. He said: “It says ‘erected by the citizens of Bristol, as a memorial to one of the most virtuous and wise sons of this city’.
“The man was a slave trader. He was generous to Bristol but it was off the back of slavery and it’s absolutely despicable. It’s an insult to the people of Bristol.”
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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
According to Historic England, the statue was sculpted by John Cassidy, of Manchester, with an inscription that read “erected by citizens of Bristol as a memorial of one of the most virtuous and wise sons of their city AD 1895”.
Colston’s involvement in the slave trade through the British-based Royal African Company was the source of much of the money which he bestowed in Bristol, the website added.
The statue was one of a number of landmarks in Bristol to take Colston’s name, although the nearby music venue Colston Hall will be renamed this year as part of a major refurbishment.
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