Bronze memorial had stood in city centre since 1895
By Tony Diver, 7 June 2020
A statue of a 17th century slave trader in Bristol has been pulled down by Black Lives Matter protesters following a rally against the death of George Floyd and racial injustice.
The bronze memorial to Edward Colston has stood in Bristol city centre since 1895, and has been the subject of controversy in recent years after campaigners argued he should not be publicly recognised by the town.
On Sunday afternoon the statue was torn down to the cheers of protesters.
One demonstrator was photographed leaning on the statue’s neck with his knee in an imitation of the choke hold used by US police against George Floyd last month.
The statue was then pushed into the harbour.
Colston’s likeness had been the subject of an 11,000-strong petition to have it removed.
Protestor John McAllister, 71, tore down black bin bags used to hide the statue to denounce it in front of fellow protesters, before a rope was tied around it and used to pull it down.
Mr McAllister 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.”
Edward Colston was involved in the Royal African Company, a trading company that was engaged in the slave trade in the 17th century.
The company is thought to have transported around 84,000 African men, women and children in the time Colston was involved.
Around 19,000 died on their journey to the Caribbean and the Americas.