President Trump is not taking any more on the statue destructions and has told the U.S marshals to be at-the-ready to prepare and guard monuments across the nation from being torn down. He vowed to crack down on those destroying federal property in the ongoing George Floyd protests.
Washington Post reported that Marshals Service Assistant Director Andrew C. Smith said the agency had been asked to immediately prepare to provide federal law enforcement support to protect national monuments throughout the country. He notes it has been a challenging assignment due to the breadth of possible targets for criminal activity.
These marshals are securing around national monuments and are expected to begin their work before the end of the week. After weeks of statues being toppled nationwide, unarmed National Guard troops will be sent to monuments around Washington, D.C., to assist the U.S Park Police in protecting the monuments in the nation’s capital. This is due to threats and targeted destruction of Confederate monuments, but also our founding fathers and abolitionists.
“This action is taken effective immediately, but may also be used retroactively for destruction or vandalism already caused. There will be no exceptions,” President Trump warned in a tweet. Those found damaging federal property will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, with up to 10 years in prison, per the Veteran’s Memorial Preservation Act. President Trump has authorized the Federal Government to arrest anyone who vandalizes or destroys any monument.
The designers of the Emancipation Statue, for example, didn’t take into account the views of the African American because it shows. The man is now kneeling on two knees with his head bowed. He’s in the act of getting up and looking forward to a future of freedom. When you understand the meaning behind the art, it shows it in a whole new light, and people are tearing that down without listening to the historians and teachers behind each statue.
Like the great quote from Thomas Sowell: “Have we reached the ultimate stage of absurdity where some people are being held responsible for things that happened before they were born, while other people are not held responsible for what they themselves are doing today?”
President Trump also addressed the issue in saying that he is very sad to see states allowing anarchists and looters to rip down our statues and monuments to the past. All of it represents our history and heritage, both the good and bad. “It is important for us to understand and remember, even in turbulent and difficult times, and learn from them. Knowledge comes from the most unusual of places,” President Trump tweeted.
