A group of protesters demonstrating against systemic racism in the United States pulled down the statue of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on Thursday. The 10-foot bronze statue erected over a granite base was pulled from its foundation by Minnesota-based Native American activists outside the city capital, Agence France Presse reported.

This came as another group of protesters in Boston decapitated Columbus’ statue on Thursday, Reuters reported.

“It was the right thing to do and it was the right time to do it,” the activist, Mike Forcia, told Reuters in an apparent reference to more than two weeks of protests over the May 25 death of a 46-year-old unarmed black man, George Floyd, who was pinned down by a white policeman and choked to death.

Native American activists have objected honouring Columbus as they believe that his expeditions pushed the slave trade in the world and led to colonization and the genocide of their ancestors.

Meanwhile, a similar development took place in the United Kingdom a few days back. Hundreds of people signed a petition that was doing rounds in Britain that demanded the removal of Robert Clive’s statue in Shrewsbury, Western England. The petitioners believe that he played a key role in establishing colonial domination over India.

The petition was filed with Change.org and addressed to the local Shropshire County Council. The development took place on the heels of Edward Colston, a former slave trader, the statue being pulled down and dragged into a river in Bristol on Sunday. This happened during the anti-racism protest supporting people of colour.

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