Toppling attempt led by Harvard student ends after confrontation with statue defenders

Washington, D.C. — Activists on Friday rallied in front of the Emancipation Memorial after a weeklong debate over whether or not the memorial, which depicts Abraham Lincoln ending slavery, is racist and should be toppled.

The rally, organized by Harvard University student Glenn Foster and his group, the Freedom Neighborhood, ended when a series of activists began shoving two journalists, one from the Washington Examiner. Before the scuffle, Foster and a series of other speakers voiced their grievances, saying that the memorial, which was paid for by freed slaves and dedicated by Frederick Douglass, was an example of white people “disempowering” black people.