Britain has again protested massively against police brutality and racism. One of the most notable actions took place in Bristol. There, protesters pulled the bronze statue of local ‘hero’ Edward Colston from its pedestal and threw it into the water by the harbor.
Colston was a seventeenth-century businessman, Member of Parliament, and philanthropist who earned much of his wealth from the slave trade.
Before his statue cup went down, a demonstrator put his knee on the metal neck for a moment. A reference to the black American George Floyd, who was killed by an unnecessary crackdown by a white cop.
In central London, tens of thousands of people gathered at the United States Embassy on the Thames. Later they moved to Downing Street and Parliament Square.
The London Police Commissioner and the Minister for Health had advised against taking part in the protest over the coronary risk, but that advice was expertly ignored.
Just like yesterday, things got a little more unfriendly at the beginning of the evening, with throwing smoke bombs and bottles. The statue of Winston Churchill was again defaced, now with the text ‘was a racist’ on the pedestal.
27 police officers injured
Thousands of protesters were on Saturday. For a long time, the protest went peacefully, but at the end of the day, it collided with the mounted police near Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s official residence on Downing Street. Fourteen officers were injured, and 29 people were arrested.
The London police chief called the attacks on the police “shocking and completely unacceptable.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson also had no right word for the violence against agents.
“People have the right to protest peacefully if they maintain social distance. But they have no right to attack the police,” Johnson said on Twitter. “These demonstrations have been undermined by violence. And they are a betrayal of the reason they claim to serve. Those responsible will be held accountable.”
