The ‘Colston Four’ verdict is a licence for woke vandalism
Find a statue offensive? Upset by a street name? Object to a commemorative plaque? Don’t suffer in silence. Tear it down! It’s not criminal damage if you are acting to prevent offence.
Being convinced you are on the “right side of history” is a green light for vandalism, at least that seems to be the message sent by the ‘not guilty’ verdict handed down to the so-called ‘Colston Four’ in Bristol yesterday.
Back in June 2020, in the midst of the Black Lives Matter protests that swept the globe following the killing of George Floyd, crowds in Bristol gathered around the 125-year-old statue of slave trader and philanthropist Edward Colston. A mob succeeded in toppling the statue, dragging it through the streets, and dumping it in the nearby port. Nine people were later charged with criminal damage and four – three men and one woman – chose to let the case go to court.