PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP IS COMBATING VIOLENCE AND PROTECTING AMERICA’S MONUMENTS, MEMORIALS, AND STATUES

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 26, 2020 PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP IS COMBATING VIOLENCE AND PROTECTING AMERICA’S MONUMENTS, MEMORIALS, AND STATUES “They’re tearing down statues, desecrating monuments, and purging dissenters. It’s not the behavior of a peaceful political movement; it’s the behavior of totalitarians and tyrants and people that don’t love our country.” – President Donald J. Trump DEFENDING OUR SHARED HISTORY: President Donald J. Trump is taking action to defend our Nation’s historical monuments, statues, and memorials. President Trump has signed an Executive Order that ensures that any person or group that destroys or vandalizes a monument, memorial, or statue is prosecuted to the fullest extent. United States law authorizes a penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment for the willful injury of Federal property. The Executive Order also directs that those who incite violence and illegal activity are prosecuted to the fullest extent under the law. State and local law enforcement agencies that fail to protect monuments, memorials, and statues will be subject to the withholding of Federal support. The Attorney General will take all appropriate action against individuals and organizations found to have participated in unlawful acts—related to rioting and the destruction of Federal property. The Federal Government will ensure personnel are available across the Nation to assist with the protection of Federal monuments, memorials, statues, and property. COMBATING VIOLENT EXTREMISM: The President is fulfilling his duty to defend the life, property, and rights of the American people. President Trump will not tolerate the rampant violence and destruction that has occurred over the last 5 weeks. Left-wing extremists are rioting, looting, and calling for the destruction of the United States system of government. Through mob intimidation, these violent extremists are attempting to impose their ideology on the law-abiding citizens of this country. Some State and local governments are failing their citizens by not distinguishing between peaceful protest and violent chaos. STANDING UP TO SENSELESS DESTRUCTION: In recent weeks we have seen rioters senselessly deface and destroy historical sites, monuments, and statues. Rioters have defaced and torn down monuments and statues honoring some of the most important figures in our Nation’s storied history. In Portland, mobs tore down statues of our Founding Fathers--George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.  In San Francisco, rioters tore down a statue honoring Ulysses S. Grant. There are even calls to remove statues of Abraham Lincoln in Boston and Washington, D.C. A statue of Hans Christian Heg, who died fighting for the Union Army during the civil war, was torn down in Wisconsin. These monuments memorialize the history we all share as Americans, and they deserve to be defended for future generations.