the nature of white supremacy, capitalism, patriarchy or any of these other systems of oppression to want to do what is necessary to save themselves." Nationwide, defunding the police has not received broad support from congressional Democrats. Senator Bernie Sanders, a former Democratic presidential candidate, and Democratic President Joe Biden, both support police reform instead. During the 2020 campaign, President Donald Trump heavily criticized the "defund the police" movement; Trump and his campaign, as well as Trump allies, repeatedly and falsely claimed that Biden supported police defunding. According to a report released by Movement for Black Lives, the US federal government deliberately targeted Black Lives Matter protesters with heavier penalties in an attempt to disrupt the movement. Monument removals Protesters have called for the removal of statues commemorating historical figures, such as Confederate war veterans and politicians as well as Christopher Columbus, who are perceived as racist by modern standards. Often those depicted in the statues were responsible for human rights violations. A number were either removed by authorities, or vandalized and toppled by protesters. Statues of United States presidents, including the Emancipation Memorial featuring Abraham Lincoln, have also been vandalized and attacked by protesters. Some pro-Union or anti-slavery monuments were also targeted, as they were seen to embody disrespectful attitudes towards Native Americans or the enslaved. In one case, a statue of abolitionist Hans Christian Heg was torn down. Related racial unrest outside the United States Writing for Foreign Affairs, professor Brenda Gayle Plummer noted that "The particulars of Floyd's murder, taking place against the backdrop of the pandemic, may well have been the dam-break moment for the global protest movement. But they are only part of the story. International solidarity with the African American civil rights struggle comes not from some kind of projection or spontaneous sentiment; it was seeded by centuries of black activism abroad and foreign concern about human rights violations in the United States." The Netherlands Related racial unrest in the Netherlands included widespread participation in George Floyd protests. The unrest has led to a change in public opinion on Zwarte Piet, a character used in Dutch Sinterklaas celebrations who has been historically portrayed in blackface. Leaving the appearance of Zwarte Piet unaltered has traditionally been supported by the public but opposed by anti-racism campaigners, but a June 2020 survey saw a drop in support for leaving the character's appearance unaltered: 47 per cent of