Four charged for damaging Colston statue in UK Black Lives Matter protests News
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Four charged for damaging Colston statue in UK Black Lives Matter protests

The Crown Prosecution Service charged four people on Wednesday for damaging the Edward Colston statue that stood in Bristol, England. The statue was torn down by Rhian Graham, Milo Ponsford, Jake Skuse and Sage Willoughby during Black Lives Matter protests in June.

At the time of the protests, the Avon and Somerset police did not arrest anyone but rather launched a subsequent investigation, which led to these charges. The statue was thrown into Bristol Harbor, and the damage is estimated at £3,750.

Colston was a British merchant who made his fortune from the slave trade. He is believed to have transported 80,000 enslaved Africans to the Americas in the sixteenth century. When he died, he donated his money to charity, and his legacy can be seen in the streets of Bristol.

The Bristol City Council said the statue will be placed in a museum with the graffiti from the protests still intact because it is a part of the history of the object.

The council also stated it allows the people to decide whose statue should stand in Colston’s former place. The accused are expected to appear in the Bristol Magistrates’ Court on January 25.

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