On July 9, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read to a large assembly of troops and civilians in New York City. Hercules Mulligan was present and like many in the crowd was stirred by the rhetoric of the document. Shortly after the reading, a large crowd of soldiers and civilians, fired with patriotic zeal, moved to the Bowling Green at the intersection of Broadway, State, and Whitehall Streets and vented their patriotic fervor on the gilded equestrian statue of King George III that sat majestically on a pedestal in the center of the park. The 4,000-pound gilded lead statue depicted the king dressed in Roman garb after the style of the statue of Marcus Aurelius in Rome. Contemporary accounts indicate that Hercules Mulligan smashed the locked gate of the fence surrounding the statue and climbed atop the marble pedestal where he was able to secure a rope around the neck of the king’s statue. About 40 people pulled on the rope, and the crowd succeeded in pulling both horse and rider from the pedestal. Once on the ground, the statue was dismembered and the pieces were carried in a triumphant procession through the city. #StandForSomething #HerculesMulligan #rumandrye #newyorkcity #SexPistols #sexpistolsofficial #sexpistols_official #newyorkcityhistory #wecanbeheroes #complexity