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Four Charged After Statue Of Slave Trader Edward Colston Was Pulled Down

Four Charged After Statue Of Slave Trader Edward Colston Was Pulled Down

The statue was pulled down during protests in June

Rebecca Shepherd

Rebecca Shepherd

Four people have been charged with criminal damage after the statue of slave trader Edward Colston was pulled down.

The statue was toppled over back in June during protests when ropes were attached and it was pulled down from its plinth to cheers from crowds in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Rhian Graham, 29, Milo Ponsford, 25, Jake Skuse, 32, and Sage Willoughby, 21, will appear at Bristol Magistrates Court on 25 January for their first hearing.

The CPS authorised the charges following a review of a file of evidence from Avon and Somerset Police.

Back on 7 June, the monument was pulled down and then people started stamping and jumping on it before it was thrown into the harbour.

People read signs and placards at the base of the Edward Colston statue plinth.
PA

Activists had been gathering in Bristol, as in many other cities in the world, to protest against the death of George Floyd while he was in police custody in Minneapolis.

Some of the protesters knelt on the neck of the Colston statue, mimicking Derek Chauvin, the police officer charged with the murder of George Floyd.

The statue has been a controversial topic in Bristol for some time, with many people believing that it should be removed.

Ships owned by Colston carried tens of thousands of people from Africa to the Americas during the era of the slave trade.

PA

A day after the monument was pulled down, police explained why they allowed protesters to tear down the statue stating that they decided not to intervene because they were concerned it would cause more violence.

Speaking to the BBC Superintendent Andy Bennett of Avon and Somerset Police said: "We know that it has been an historical figure that has caused the black community quite a lot of angst over the last couple of years.

"So whilst I'm disappointed people would damage one of our statues, I do understand why it has happened, it is very symbolic.

"You might wander why we didn't intervene and why we just allowed people to put it into the docks. We made a very tactical decision that to stop people from doing that act may have caused further disorder and we decided the safest thing to do in terms of our policing tactics was to allow it to take place."

He added: "Our policing style from the outset was low key, we were not able to get to the statue in time to protect it and once it had been toppled there was clearly a pre-planned attempt to bring that down, they had the ropes and they had the right tools.

"So once it was down we made the right decision which was just to allow it to happen because what we did not want is tension.

"I understand why people think we should have intervened and challenged but this was a very difficult policing operation, there's a lot of context that sits around it and I believe we did the right thing."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: News, UK