Edward Colston was a historical figure who had a statue in Bristol. In 2020, the statue was torn down by anti-racism protesters in response to the murder of George Floyd. Lucy Wilson and Hobo Kostinen watched mobile phone footage of the dismantling.
Hobo and his mother believed that the protesters had no business tearing down public property. Lucy acknowledged that Hobo may have been right, but noted that Colston could not have been a good man to attract that kind of attention. (PROSE: 8.46)
Behind the Scenes
In real life, Edward Colston was an 18th Century Tory MP who was heavily involved in the slave trade as a member of the Royal African Company, which held a monopoly on the English trade in African slaves. A connection between him and the slave trade is alluded to in-universe, but not elaborated upon.