During protests against racism, protesters in Richmond (Virginia, United States) demolished a statue of Columbus yesterday , set it on fire and then threw it into a lake.
According to local media, around 6:30 p.m. several participants in the demonstration began chanting that the sculpture , erected in Byrd Park, in the city center, be demolished .
Less than two hours later, the statue of Columbus was removed from its pedestal . Later, the protesters tied her with several ropes and hung a sign with the words: “Columbus represents genocide” on the spray painted base that held the statue. They later set her on fire and threw her into a lake in the same park, according to NBC 12.
There was no police presence on the premises, but, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, a security corps helicopter was flying over the area while protesters shot down the sculpture.
This statue of Columbus was erected in the park in December 1927 and was the first dedicated to the figure of the discoverer of America in the southern United States.
The mobilizations for the death of George Floyd have also demolished statues of figures of the Confederate Army in the United States, while in Europe, the targets of the anger of the protesters have been the sculptures of Edward Colston, Wiston Churchill or Leopold II of Belgium , which They have become symbols of slavery and colonialism that activists want to end.
