British protesters toppled statue of 125-year-old slave trader

Black Lives Matter protesters in the UK have reportedly toppled a bronze statue of a notorious slave trader on Sunday, dragging it into the harbor of Bristol amid shouts.

Thousands of demonstrators plunged into Bristol for the second time as a statue of Edward Colston, a prominent 17th-century slave trader standing near a floating harbor since 1895, was pulled over by ropes and then submerged in protest. The BBC reports.

In the video posted on Twitter, the statue is seen falling off its pedestal.

A protester was seen kneeling after falling to the neck of the statue, like a knee placed on George Floyd’s neck, who died on May 25 when he was thrown down by Minneapolis police and provoked worldwide protests against police brutality.

Colston, who died in 1721, was a successful merchant when he was an important slave-trading port in Bristol.

He was regarded as an important figure in the development of the city, but increasingly considered a controversial figure and a symbol of the development of slavery and racial intolerance. Said Bristol Live.

A petition is being circulated in the city with more than 11,000 signatures to remove the statue.

“Statues,” said historian David Olasoka of the BBC, “is a great man who did great things.” “That’s not true. He was a slave trader and a murderer. “

In southern England, 120 miles west of London, 10,000 demonstrators gathered over the weekend, holding signs of “Black Lives Matter” and chanting, “I can’t breathe.” – Floyd’s request.

The protests triggered by Floyd’s death erupted in dozens of cities on five continents outside the United States, where national protests broke into the 13th Sunday.