Egerton Ryerson Statue Beheaded at Toronto Protest

A statue of Egerton Ryerson at a university in his name in Toronto, Canada, was toppled and beheaded by protesters on June 6.

This video, posted to Twitter by Robin Pueyo, shows a person hitting the statue with a sledgehammer.

More than 1,000 protesters took part in the demonstration that led to the statue of Ryerson being toppled and decapitated, according to the university.

Vice-Chancellor of Ryerson University Mohamed Lachemi said it would not be restoring or replacing the statue following its toppling.

Ryerson was an educator who helped design the country’s residential school system for indigenous Canadians. The statue had been vandalized with spray paint in recent days following the discovery of the bodies of over 200 children at a former residential school in Kamloops, British Columbia, according to local news reports. Credit: Robin Pueyo via Storyful