4 acquitted in toppling of British slave trader statue
ABC News
Four anti-racism demonstrators have been cleared of criminal damage in the toppling of a statue of a 17th-century slave trader during a Black Lives Matter protest in southwestern England
LONDON -- Four anti-racism demonstrators were cleared Wednesday of criminal damage in the toppling of a statue of a 17th-century slave trader during a Black Lives Matter protest in southwestern England.
Protesters used ropes to pull down the bronze statue of Edward Colston and dump it in Bristol’s harbor on June 7, 2020. The demonstration and toppling were part of a worldwide reckoning with racism and slavery sparked by the death of a Black American man, George Floyd, at the hands of police in Minneapolis.
Loud cheers rang out from a packed public gallery at Bristol Crown Court as a jury acquitted Rhian Graham, 30, Milo Ponsford, 26, and Sage Willoughby, 22, and Jake Skuse, 33.
“This is a victory for Bristol, this is a victory for racial equality and it’s a victory for anybody who wants to be on the right side of history," Willoughby said.
