In the British city of Bristol, protesters shot down a statue of a 17th-century slave trader on Sunday while demonstrating in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Protesters tied the 5.5-meter (18-foot) bronze statue of Edward Colston with a rope before knocking it over to the applause of the surrounding crowd.
Activists were later seen rolling the statue into the nearby harbor and throwing it into the Avon River.
Colston, who was born in Bristol in 1636, was an active member of the governing body of the Royal African Company (RAC) for 11 years, assuming the role of vice-governor from 1689-1690.
The company, which had a monopoly on the slave trade in West Africa in the late 17th century, was involved in the sale of tens of thousands of people in West Africa to the Caribbean and the Americas .
Colston, who is described by the Bristol Museums website as a "revered philanthropist / vilified slave trader," then donated some of his wealth to charitable causes, such as schools and hospitals, a process by which his name has become synonymous with certain monuments of Bristol. .
The Colston statue has been in downtown Bristol since 1895 but has become increasingly controversial, with petitions created to demand its removal.
Elsewhere in the UK: Mass demonstrations, with thousands of people, also took place in other major cities in the UK such as London and Edinburgh.
At least 12 people were arrested during protests in London, police said Sunday.
