Confederate statue toppled
Protesters tear down, burn monument as US marches on Juneteenth
Protesters in Washington toppled a statue of a Confederate general, after nationwide rallies to demand racial justice on a day heavy with symbolism – the Juneteenth holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.
Demonstrations were held in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington on Friday against a backdrop of weeks of protests fuelled by the deaths of black Americans at the hands of police.
In a stark illustration of the tensions roiling the nation, President Donald Trump issued a solemn White House statement commemorating Juneteenth, while also threatening protesters on Twitter ahead of his rally in Tulsa yesterday.
Juneteenth marks the day – June 19, 1865 – when a Union general arrived in Galveston, Texas and informed slaves that they were free – two months after the Civil War ended and two-and-a-half years after president Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
Late on Friday a statue of Confederate general Albert Pike was torn down by demonstrators in the capital and set on fire, in an act labelled a “disgrace” by Trump.
“The DC police are not doing their job as they watch a statue be ripped down & burn. These people should be immediately arrested,” Trump tweeted.
Earlier, several thousand demonstrators marched across New York’s Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan, chanting the names of black men and women killed by police in recent years.