President Trump on Tuesday said people caught destroying or defacing statues or monuments on federal property will face up to 10 years behind bars and that he’s planning an executive order to clarify existing criminal statutes on the issue.
“We are looking at long-term jail sentences for these vandals and these hoodlums and these anarchists and agitators,” the president told reporters outside the White House.
“Call them whatever you want – some people don’t like that language but that’s what they are,” he said. “They’re bad people. They don’t love our country and they’re not taking down our monuments.”
He said he will have an executive order on the issue “very shortly.”
“All it’s really going to do is reinforce what’s already there, but in a more uniform way,” he said.
He said if “very weak” state governments can’t control things, “they might need help.”
“If these hoodlums come around and if the states can’t handle it, we are ready, willing, and able to help as we did in Minnesota,” he said. “These are not protesters, by the way. These are anarchists and other things.”
Earlier Tuesday, he said he’s authorized the federal government to arrest anyone who “vandalizes or destroys any monument, statue or other such Federal property in the U.S.”
He said violators will face up to 10 years in prison, “per the Veteran’s Memorial Preservation Act, or such other laws that may be pertinent.”
“This action is taken effective immediately, but may also be used retroactively for destruction or vandalism already caused. There will be no exceptions!” the president said on Twitter.
He had previewed some kind of executive action on the issue earlier this week.
“We’re going to do an executive order and we’re going to make the cities guard their monuments,” he told EWTN. “This is a disgrace.”
Protesters tried to pull down a statue of Andrew Jackson near the White House on Monday evening but were thwarted by police.
“Last night, we stopped an attack on a great monument,” Mr. Trump said on Tuesday. “I just want to thank law enforcement – they did a great job.”
“Numerous people are in jail and are going to jail today,” he said. “People are already there, but we’re looking at long-term sentences under the act.”
Many activists have demanded statues of Confederate figures like Robert E. Lee be taken down amid the ongoing calls for racial justice after the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody last month.
But there has also been a push to take down statues or monuments commemorating former U.S. Presidents like Theodore Roosevelt, Ulysses S. Grant, and Thomas Jefferson.
“They started off with the Confederate and then they go to Ulysses S. Grant. Well, what’s that all about?” Mr. Trump said in an interview that aired Tuesday on Fox News.
“And they would knock down Lincoln. There’s a group that wants to take down Lincoln. They haven’t figured out exactly why yet,” he said. “George Washington, Thomas Jefferson.”
“I’ve stopped them twice now from going over to the Jefferson Memorial,” he said.
He predicted that protesters will knock down the Jefferson Memorial if someone like presumptive Democratic nominee Joseph R. Biden is elected.
“Not going to happen,” Mr. Trump said.
