Protesters pull down Christopher Columbus statue in Baltimore

Washington

Protesters in Baltimore, near the US capital Washington, pulled down a statue of explorer Christopher Columbus, dragged it to the city's Inner Harbor and rolled it into the water amid Fourth of July fireworks on Saturday, the Baltimore Sun reported.

The torn-down Columbus statue was part of a "re-examination taking place nationally and globally around some of these monuments and statues that may represent different things to different people," The Baltimore Sun quoted Lester Davis, a spokesman for Democratic Mayor Bernard Young as saying Saturday night, dpa reported.

Columbus was one of the first Europeans in the New World and is often referred to as the discoverer of America. Historians and civil rights activists, however, criticize Columbus for enslaving Native Americans. In a speech in Washington Saturday night, US President Donald Trump said he will fight to protect the American "way of life" that started when Columbus "discovered America.