Antwerp removes King Leopold II statue after protests, sends to museum amid colonial reckoning

Antwerp city officials have taken down a statue of King Leopold II of Belgium following its vandalism with paint and subsequent arson during anti-racism protests. This decision comes after a week of demonstrations throughout Belgium, part of the worldwide Black Lives Matter movement that has led to increased examination of colonial statues. Leopold II governed the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908, a period marked by severe human rights abuses in the rubber sector and significant population decline. In Brussels, another statue attracted attention as crowds waved DR Congo flags, while in Bristol, a statue of 17th-century slave trader Edward Colston was toppled. The Antwerp statue is now at the Middelheim sculpture museum for restoration and is expected to remain there, as the Ekeren district undergoes a civic refurbishment through 2023. A city representative suggested it may not return to its original location. Two petitions advocating for the removal of Leopold II memorials in Belgium have amassed 30,000 signatures.