News / Edward Colston
Bus stop adverts repurposed to show support for ‘Colston 4’
Ahead of their appearance at Bristol Magistrates’ Court on Monday, there has been a novel way to show support for the ‘Colston 4’.
They are the four people who have been charged with criminal damage over the toppling of the statue of Edward Colston on June 7 2020.
Posters in solidarity with those charges have appeared in place of adverts at bus stops across the city centre, including on Wine Street, Bond Street and Stokes Croft.
is needed now More than ever
The posters say: “I cheered. I danced. I shouted. I toppled Colston. 10,000 people in Bristol toppled Colston. On Monday 25th January, 4 people charged with criminal damage for removal of the Colston Statue have their first court hearing at 9.30am at Bristol. Solidarity with the Colston 4.”
On Monday, Rhian Graham, 29, Milo Ponsford, 25, Jake Skuse, 32, and Sage Willoughby, 21, are all due to appear at Bristol Magistrates’ Court.
Six people have previously accepted conditional cautions for criminal damage for their part in what happened during a Black Live Matter protest.
The Crown Prosecution Service authorised charges following a review of a file of evidence from Avon & Somerset Police.
After being toppled from its plinth, the statue was thrown into the docks from where it was later recovered and assessed by Bristol City Council to have suffered £3,750 worth of damage.
During Colston’s involvement with the Royal African Company, it is estimated that more than 84,000 African men, women and children were transported into slavery.to the Caribbean and the rest of the Americas.
Activists to have managed to open Clear Channel displays to insert the ‘subvertising’ – photo: Martin Booth
Main photo: Martin Booth
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