Donald Trump threatened with arrest after protesters attempted to overthrow statue of former president (File)
Washington:
US President Donald Trump and his Republican colleagues in Congress on Tuesday angrily decried efforts to remove statues and other memorials that activists consider racist, a movement that has gained momentum as part of more national protests broad against racial injustice and police brutality.
Trump announced on Tuesday an “effective immediately” authorization to arrest anyone caught destroying or vandalizing a commemoration to a former member of the armed forces on federal territory, citing the Veterans Memorial Act, which has been in force since 17 years.
He first threatened to arrest late Monday when protesters attempted to overthrow a statue of former President Andrew Jackson near the White House. Jackson enslaved blacks as the owner of a plantation and is known for the Trail of Tears, a forced displacement of South American Indians that led to the deaths of thousands of people.
The protesters also declared an autonomous area of the Black House in front of the White House in front of the Church of St. John, taking control of the Black Lives Matter Plaza. They spray-painted “BHAZ” onto columns in front of the church, which had had a small basement fire during previous demonstrations.
“The perpetrators must be prosecuted. These senseless attacks must be stopped,” Kevin McCarthy, the leading Republican in the US House of Representatives, said on Twitter.
Many statues and monuments targeted by the crowd in recent weeks pay tribute to the rebel Confederation of the civil war of the country. Democrats and other critics claim that such symbols wrongly honor those who perpetuated slavery.
Calls to dismantle them follow a wave of protests after the May 25 death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed in police custody in Minneapolis, who sparked protests and calls to combat racism in the policing and other reforms.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
