Bristol Protesters Use Rope to Tear Down Monument to Slave Trader [FILE]

Protesters in Bristol, England, pulled down a statue of 17th century slave trader Edward Colston and threw it into a nearby harbor on Sunday, June 7.

Video filmed by Sam Gillies shows demonstrators tearing down the statue from its plinth during anti-racism protests. Members of the crowd cheered and jumped on the statue after it fell. Other footage showed the monument being dragged through the streets and thrown in the harbor.

Colston made his fortune through slavery and was on the board of the Royal African Company, which operated ships that are believed to have transported 84,000 men, women and children from Africa to the Americas between 1672 and 1689, according to the BBC.

Colston was born in Bristol and many of the city’s buildings and schools are named after him. Credit: Sam Gillies via Storyful