About 30 to 40 Black Lives Matter protesters and a diverse group of supporters - calling on the government to defund police - have tagged messages and thrown pink paint onto several statues in downtown Toronto, including one of Sir John A. Macdonald at the Ontario Legislature and a statue of King Edward the 7th, just north of Queens Park.
The rally and march started at Ryerson University, where the statue of its namesake Egerton Ryerson was also defaced.
Macdonald and Egerton are two of those believed to be among the architects of the residential school system in Canada.
The tagged message reads: "Tear down monuments that represent slavery, colonialism and violence."
Three of the protesters have been arrested.
Demonstrators have been camped outside of 52 division, where the trio is being held, for several hours, calling for their release.
Our media partner CTV News Toronto is reporting the three protesters arrested have each been charged with three counts of mischief under five thousand dollars and one count of conspiracy to commit a summary of offence.
CP24
CP24