Christopher Columbus Statue Torn Down, Set on Fire and Tossed in Lake by Virginia Protesters | 22 Words

A statue of Christopher Columbus in Virginia was recently torn down, set on fire, and tossed into a lake.

Keep scrolling to witness the apocalyptic scenes...

The Black Lives Matter movement has never before been so prominent.

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 On Monday, May 25th, George Floyd - who was a defenseless black man - was killed while in a police restraint.

Forty-six-year-old George was arrested and forced to the ground...

Where former police officer, Derek Chauvin, proceeded to kneel on his neck, while 3 other officers knelt on his back.

Footage of George's "arrest" quickly circulated on social media...

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 And, in the highly distressing scenes, he could be heard begging with the officers to release him and repeatedly saying "Please, please... I can't breathe."

4 days after George's death, some justice was served.

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 Derek Chauvin, the man who had knelt on George’s neck, was finally arrested and he is now facing charges of second-degree murder. But this wasn't enough...

This kind of police brutality has been happening for centuries now...

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 But George's death has sparked an outrage like never before.

Thousands upon thousands of people have been taking to the streets in protest...

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 And they are all marching for one thing: For the blatant racism and injustice in this country to be brought to an end.

Many protests turned violent...

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 But change needs to happen and, at the moment, this seems like the only way to make it happen.

Remarkably, however, they seem to be working.

Thanks to these riots, the Black Lives Matter movement is dominating global headlines, and it has completely taken over social media.

It has also taken over our streets...

For instance, a group of people painted large yellow letters saying "Black Lives Matter" down two blocks of 16th Street in D.C - a two-lane road that coincidentally leads to the White House.

Emily Badger, a New York Times writer who spotted the letters, said in a tweet that the letters would "be a real middle finger to any federal forces flying overhead."

She also added that it doesn't seem to be temporary support as the paint being used looked like that is used to stripe road lanes.

Protests have been happening across the pond too...

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 Hundreds of thousands of people have been taking to the streets in the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

We are witnessing history in the making...

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 And people are continuing to demand justice.

And they're demanding justice so much...

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 That a group of protesters recently decided to take out their anger on a Christopher Columbus statue in Virginia.

The statue was ninety-three-years-old...

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 And it has been standing there for all of those years to commemorate the Italian explorer.

But controversy has surrounded Columbus' name for many years now...

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 His transatlantic voyages unlocked an entire continent for European colonization and turned the Italian explorer into a modern symbol of conquest and violence for native Americans.

Protesters in Virginia felt enough was enough.

via: Twitter

 The monument to the Italian explorer, which had been positioned in Richmond’s Byrd Park, was brought down amid chants to "tear it down" on Tuesday this week in a protest aimed at honoring Native Americans.

It didn't take long for the protesters to completely dislodge the statue...

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 And this is when things turned ugly.

The statue was set on fire and covered in graffiti...

And protesters then dumped it in Richmond's Fountain lake as a final demand for justice.

The motive to drag down the statue remains unclear...

But we feel that it's pretty self-explanatory.

Many agreed with the protestors' actions...

And people have spoken out against Columbus and what he stood for in history.

Columbus was responsible for hundreds of thousands of murders...

So why should his memory be turned into a legacy?

But of course, not everyone was impressed with the statue being defaced in this manner.

Many feel that the protesters have "lost the plot" and that they're dwelling too much on the past... but dwelling on the past is what will bring the change that we all need.

Some have branded the protestor's behavior as shameful...

Is vandalism really the best way to demand justice?

It seems that this is only the start of a very long battle for justice...

Make sure to stay posted for further updates.