Slave trader's statue torn down in UK amid global inequality protests

A statue to a 17th century British slave trader was torn down on June 7 during an anti-racism protest in Bristol in southwest England amid calls for other historic reminders of the slave trade to be removed.

The move sparked debate among Britons on whether the toppling of the statue of Edward Colston was vandalism or an historic moment drawing attention to Britain's role in the slave trade.

Opposition Labour peer Andrew Adonis said Britain had been "too slow" in removing statues of slave traders and "imperial criminals", while former finance minister Sajid Javid of the ruling Conservative party said it was criminal damage.

"I grew up in Bristol. I detest how Edward Colston profited from the slave trade. But, THIS IS NOT OK," Javid said in a statement.

"If Bristolians wants to remove a monument it should be done democratically - not by criminal damage."

Footage posted on social media showed Black Lives Matter demonstrators cheering as they tore down the statue and rolled it into a river after largely peaceful weekend protests in UK cities including London, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Colston, who was born in Bristol in 1636, was a merchant and member of parliament whose wealth was made mainly by transporting about 80,000 men, women and children from Africa to the Caribbean and the Americas, with many dying on route.

The bronze statue, erected in 1895, has been a focal point for protests in the past and a petition demanding its removal had recently garnered over 11,000 signatures. 

"As someone who lives in Bristol, Edward Colston's name is everywhere. The city had painted him into every brick of its architecture. It's about time that changed," British actor Miltos Yerolemou from TV series "Game of...