During a protest in Portsmouth, Virginia, a protester was hit by a piece of a statue. He is now in a coma.
Although the #BlackLivesMatter movement has been beneficial in bringing awareness to racial inequality in the country, some situations have had dangerous results.
Chris Green, from Portsmouth, Virginia, ended up in a coma after a piece of a statue fell on him while it was being torn down Wednesday night around 9 p.m.
Despite the Portsmouth City Council meeting earlier that day to discuss what to do about the Portsmouth monument, protesters grouped around it later that night, chanting "No Justice, No Peace." The monument, which had been constructed in the 1800s and stood near the intersection of High Street and Court Street in Olde Towne, was torn down with hammers and bolt cutters. The soliders' heads were removed and their muskets and swords cut away.
Witnesses say Green was hit by a piece of the falling statue while trying to get other people out of the way.
"We could see that his skull was actually showing ... and he lost a great amount of blood," a spokesperson for Black Lives Matter 777 said.
Wary of escalating the tension, Portsmouth police did not order the protesters to stop, although they did end up securing the area with crime scene tape in order to inspect it while Green was stretchered away. Protesters were asked to leave and, after kneeling and praying for Greene, they departed.
One man injured during protest as a piece of the confederate monument fell. Police asking for everyone to leave . #13NewsNow pic.twitter.com/EvGoKovKEz
— Angelo Vargas 13News Now (@13AngeloVargas) June 11, 2020
— Angelo Vargas 13News Now (@13AngeloVargas) June 11, 2020
The Black Lives Matter 757 group, which had organized Wednesday's protest, tweeted Green's name as well as a link to a GoFundMe page, to help pay for his medical expenses and support his family.
The Portsmouth Police Deparment claim the Virginia State Police will be handling an investigation into the injury incident while they manage other investigations. Portsmouth's Commonwealth Attorney's Office will decide if any charges should be filed.
Chris Green, the gentleman in the green shirt was severely injured last night. https://t.co/zIRXQAbvTa
— Blacklivesmatter757 (@BLM757) June 11, 2020
Countless Confederate monuments have been heaved up or demolished in the wake of protests all across Virginia, including statues of Christopher Columbus, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis. In the eyes of many, they represented decades' worth of slavery and injustice for black Americans. Portsmouth's NAACP's chapter president claims "people are just tired of being sick and tired" of racial inequality.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Chris Green and his family, and we wish him a full and speedy recovery.