N Carolina Protesters Hang Confederate Statue From Post
Demonstrators used a strap to pull down two statues of Confederate soldiers that were part of a larger obelisk near the state capitol in downtown Raleigh, news outlets reported
Demonstrators are again taking to the streets in the U.S. this weekend to call for racial justice and an end to police brutality.
Protests across the country have continued since May 25, when George Floyd, an African American man, died in police custody in the central U.S. city of Minneapolis.
Some protests on Saturday and Sunday are also being held in observance of Juneteenth, a holiday celebrating the last African Americans who were freed from slavery on June 19, 1865 in the southcentral state of Texas.
Demonstrations are taking place in several towns and cities this weekend, including New York, Los Angeles and Miami.
Weekend protests are also planned in Washington, where daily protests near the White House have taken place for weeks.
Friday night, protesters at Judiciary Square, 3.2 kilometers from the White House, pulled down the statue of Confederate General Albert Pike.
DC Protesters Pull Down, Burn Statue of Confederate General
Cheering demonstrators jumped up and down as the 3.4-meter statue of Albert Pike - wrapped with chains - wobbled on its high granite pedestal before falling backward, landing in a pile of dust
Confederate monuments, symbols of southern states that seceded from the U.S. in a failed attempt to preserve the enslavement of African Americans, have been the target of mounting criticism in recent decades, and particularly during this period of protests.
Protests against racism are also taking place Saturday in other countries.
A fourth weekend of anti-racism protests sparked by Floyd’s death are being held in parts of the United Kingdom. In Scotland, protesters in Edinburgh are calling for the removal of a statue of Henry Dundas, an 18th-century politician who delayed the abolition of slavery.
In France, demonstrators are marching in Paris against racism and police brutality
and in memory of black men who died following encounters with French police or under suspicious circumstances.