A jury in Bristol, England, found four Black Lives Matter protesters “not guilty” of criminal damage after they pulled down a statue of the slave trader Edward Colston in June 2020.
The defendants admitted to pulling down the statue but did not concede causing criminal damage. They claimed that they didn’t cause permanent physical damage — only a change of location. (The statue was dumped in a nearby harbor.) Mostly, as has been discussed, their defense relied on the criminal damage law’s clause, “without lawful excuse.” The defendants argued that the display of the statue itself was a crime against public decency and order, hence they had a “lawful excuse” for removing it.
Colston was a 17th-century merchant, philanthropist, member of Parliament, and generous benefactor to the city of Bristol. He was also a slave trader. His legacy is a mix of good and bad. Perhaps the people of Bristol find the bad overwhelming and would prefer not to have a statue honoring him. If so, fair enough. But that still doesn’t excuse self-righteous vandals from bypassing what should be a democratic process. The jury’s decision is an alarming reflection of society’s growing acceptance of disruption and violence — so long as they’re in service of the right political cause.