300 years a statue

What gets to me about pulling down statues, is that it was allowed by the police, presumably as a thought out method, that they did not want to have a riot on their hands that they could not control, or be accused of police brutality in resisting the action of pulling it down. So in a sense it was sacrificed for the greater good. What does it matter, it was just a statue, I mean a racially potent, and provocative piece of public art that representing oppression of black people. Yet it had been doing that for a very long time, and it also represented history. My fear is the message sent is that when ever any particularly angry mob is in enough numbers, then the Police in Bristol will allow whatever destruction of property the mob /crowd leaders/ protesters feel justifies their violent attention and that this will be permitted. So that if a far right group also decides it wants to countermand its own protest and focus its attention on some public building, public artwork it feels insults its beliefs, then this mass action, and mob-rule is the best way to accomplish its aims, and the police would be within their rights to stand back and allow this, because it is the will of the mob, and it fears future repercussions if it does not relent.