‘Violent mob’ had no right to tear down statue of slave trader in Bristol on impulse, Farage argues (VIDEO)

The Black Lives Matter protesters in Bristol who toppled a statue of slave trader Edward Colston should be condemned because the angry crowd acted without democratic consent, Nigel Farage has said.

The Brexit Party leader was challenged by Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan to explain why monuments to Adolf Hitler in Germany should be destroyed, but not a statue in the UK honoring a slave trader.

“Because they did it as a violent mob making their own decisions on what they think was right and wrong,” Farage said of the demonstrators. He added that fighting for justice and equality is a “laudable aim,” but accused Black Lives Matter of being a "far-left" organization which aims to "defund and close down police forces."

A Sky News correspondent reporting from Bristol claimed that the "vast majority" of people she had spoken to in the city agree with what the protesters did. However, a poll conducted by the Bristol Post in 2014 found that 56 percent of respondents wanted the statue to remain, while 44 percent called for its removal.

Although no one denied that the statue was removed by extra-legal means, many argued that the debate over whether to pull down the monument had been going on for "years" and "wasn't getting anywhere" – a stalemate that required direct action.

Colston was one of Bristol's chief benefactors, and used his vast wealth to construct hospitals, schools and other public buildings in the city and across England. After attacking the monument in his honor, Black Lives Matter demonstrators dumped the statue into Bristol Harbor. Videos of the vigilante act divided Britain. The incident is just one of many acts of vandalism that have taken place across Europe and the United States and elsewhere, following anti-racism protests sparked by the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. A day before Colston's statue was toppled, London protesters defaced a monument to iconic British leader Winston Churchill. The act was deemed particularly offensive because it occurred on the 76th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

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