BLM protesters pull down statues of white historical figures in US, UK

About two hours before the fall, supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement had gathered in Byrd Park and demanded the demolition of the Columbus statue. Photos of the crime are very popular on Twitter.

LMAOOOOOOOO Christopher Columbus discovering water (2020) pic.twitter.com/UgtcqUS4HJ

— elijah daniel (@elijahdaniel) June 10, 2020

The Columbus statue was inaugurated in December 1927, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and was the first statue erected in the south to commemorate Christopher Columbus. Just a few days ago, protesters in Richmond in Monroe Park had torn off a monument to Confederate General Williams Carter Wickham.

The statue of Confederate General Williams Carter Wickham in Monroe Park lays beside its base, covered in paint. pic.twitter.com/D6EgslhpS7

— The Commonwealth Times (@theCT) June 7, 2020

In Virginia, BLM activists also tore down a Monument Avenue statue dedicated to former president of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis – a bystander said it was done with a tiny sedan.

A statue of a slave trader has been removed in Britain. The monument to merchant Robert Milligan was demolished on Tuesday in Borough of Tower Hamlets, London. District Mayor John Biggs had ordered the figure removed.

A petition demanding that the statue be demolished received only 1 000 signatures within 24 hours. Numerous people applauded the excavator, which finally lifted Robert Milligan off the plinth. Biggs was pleased with the removal of the monument and the past should be revised. “East End has a proud history of fighting intolerance. We need a broader discussion now about the confrontation with our history and the symbols that represent it,” he said on Twitter.

Also in London, Abraham Lincoln’s statue in Parliament Square, was defaced at a Black Lives Matter rally held in defiance of Britain’s anti-coronavirus regulations. Ironically Lincoln was the leader who had led the war against the Confederate States of America to defeat the separatists and free the country’s slaves.

Protesters at the demonstration also vandalised the statue of British war-time leader Sir Winston Churchill with graffiti reading “ACAB” — the abbreviation for “All Coppers [police] Are Bastards”.

A large memorial to former British monarch Queen Victoria was vandalised by BLM protesters with slogans “murderer”, and “slag” in Leeds. The queen ironically had an Indian attendant who served her during the final fourteen years of her reign.

A statue of Queen Victoria in Woodhouse Moor, Leeds has been defaced with graffiti including the words 'slave owner' and 'murderer'.

Other graffiti, including justice BLM and Black Lives Matter, has also been sprayed on and around the monument. pic.twitter.com/sk9EGI3yZl

— BBC Yorkshire (@BBCLookNorth) June 9, 2020

The vandals attacked the statue and pedestal in Leeds, England, which portrayed the 19th-century female monarch.

The operators of the “Topple the Racists” website have listed 60 statues of historical figures who, in their opinion, should no longer have a place in society, including the discoverers Sir Francis Drake and James Cook.

Meanwhile, New York Times writer Nikole Hannah-Jones, who was just given a Pulitzer Prize, said recently that the violent destruction of property by rioters “is not violence” because the property “can be replaced”.

A British sociology professor at the University of Greenwich, Adam Elliott-Cooper, has called on the British government to “immediately” defund the police.

Funds should be diverted into “women’s refuges, youth services and greater funding for mental health provision, particularly for young people” he said.