By SABRINA MORENO Richmond Times-Dispatch 1 hr ago

Update 10:45 p.m.: Protesters toppled a Confederate statue from its pedestal in Monroe Park on Saturday night.

After a day and evening of peaceful protests and marches in Richmond and its suburbs, protesters using ropes pulled down a statue honoring Confederate Gen. Williams Carter Wickham, which has stood in the park since 1891.

Most of the protesters who had marched through the city Saturday night had already dispersed when the statue was taken down. After it fell, one person urinated on the statue and then ran away.

About an hour after the incident in Monroe Park, nearly 40 cars were seen surrounding the Lee statue, blocking traffic along Monument Avenue.

https://www.richmond.com/news/local/update-protesters-pull-down-confederate-statue-in-richmonds-monroe-park/article_8e071910-e47f-5114-bb05-325e39fc20fd.html

Black Boys on Mopeds Sinéad O'Connor

Margareth Thatcher on TV
Shocked by the deaths that took place in Beijing
It seems strange that she should be offended
The same orders are given by her
I've said this before now
You said I was childish and you'll say it now
Remember what I told you
If they hated me they will hate you

England's not the mythical land of Madame George and roses
It's the home of police who kill black boys on mopeds
And I love my boy and that's why I'm leaving
I don't want him to be aware that there's
Any such thing as grieving

Young mother down at Smithfield
Five a.m., looking for food for her kids
In her arms she holds three cold babies
And the first word that they learned was please

These are dangerous days
To say what you feel is to dig your own grave
Remember what I told you
If you were of the world they would love you

England's not the mythical land of Madame George and roses
It's the home of police who kill black boys on mopeds
And I love my boy and that's why I'm leaving
I don't want him to be aware that there's
Any such thing as grieving

"There was no reaching out, no sense that it would require some sort of authorization before using the church as a backdrop in that way," said Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, with oversight responsibilities for the church.

...
"It almost looked like a prop," she told NPR. "That is the most sacred text of the Judeo-Christian tradition. It speaks messages of love, of God, love of neighbor. I was outraged that he felt that he had the license to do that, and that he would abuse our sacred symbols and our sacred space in that way."

A former St. John's minister, Gini Gerbasi, was among those attending to the protesters in front of the church when the police moved in.

"We were literally DRIVEN OFF of the St. John's, Lafayette Square patio with tear gas and concussion grenades and police in full riot gear," she wrote in a Facebook post. "PEOPLE WERE HURT SO THAT President Trump COULD HAVE A PHOTO OPPORTUNITY IN FRONT OF THE CHURCH!!! HE WOULD HAVE HAD TO STEP OVER THE MEDICAL SUPPLIES WE LEFT BEHIND BECAUSE WE WERE BEING TEAR GASSED!!!!"

https://www.npr.org/2020/06/01/867532070/trumps-unannounced-church-visit-angers-church-authorities