President Donald Trump has issued a warning to those who vandalise or demolish “any monument, statue or other such federal property”.
Trump took to Twitter to vow that anyone in the US found to be doing so will face “up to 10 years in prison”, as per a piece of legislation passed back in 2003.
“They don’t love our country. And they’re not taking down our monuments”: Donald Trump takes aim at Black Lives Matter protestors.
“We are looking at long-term jail sentences for these vandals and these hoodlums and these anarchists and agitators and call it whatever you want,” Trump said. “Some people don’t like that language, but that’s what they are. They’re bad people. They don’t love our country. And they’re not taking down our monuments, I just want to make that clear.”
His announcement follows the protests and riots that have been taking place in conjunction with George Floyd’s death. A variety of monuments have been removed or torn down in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests. This particular tweet was sparked when demonstrators attempted to remove a statue of the American soldier and former president Andrew Jackson that sits directly across from the White House.
…..This action is taken effective immediately, but may also be used retroactively for destruction or vandalism already caused. There will be no exceptions!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 23, 2020
Trump warned for protestors to “Beware!” and that action will be taken “…effective immediately, but may also be used retroactively for destruction or vandalism already caused. There will be no exceptions!”
In other statue-related news, residents of Tennessee recently launched a petition calling on state officials to replace local monuments with statues of local golden girl Dolly Parton. Similarly, a group of citizens in Minnesota have launched their own petition in the hope of removing a statue of Christopher Columbus and replacing it with the iconic and inspirational idol that is Prince.
