George Floyd Protests: Trump Threatens 10-Year Prison Terms For Toppling Statues

President Trump on Tuesday threatened arrest for “anyone who vandalizes or destroys any monument, statue or other such federal property” in response to racial justice protesters who have been toppling Confederate statues and defacing statues of Christopher Columbus, the Founding Fathers and others.

The president also vowed not to allow protesters to set up an autonomous zone anywhere in the nation’s capital like the one set up by Seattle protesters.

“I have authorized the Federal Government to arrest anyone who vandalizes or destroys any monument, statue or other such Federal property in the U.S. with up to 10 years in prison,” Trump tweeted, saying he was relying on the Veteran’s Memorial Preservation Act and any other applicable law. He also said the order was retroactive.

District of Columbia Police Monday thwarted an attempt by hundreds of protesters to topple a statue of President Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square next to the White House. The protesters chanted, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Andrew Jackson’s got to go,” as they locked arms around the statue to allow a smaller group inside to scale the monument to drape ropes around it. Someone also wrote “killer” on the pedestal.

The statue features the seventh president astride a horse. Jackson was a populist frontiersman who initiated an Indian removal policy that pushed Native Americans west of the Mississippi River.

Police confronted the protesters with batons and pepper spray, pushing them back.

“Numerous people arrested in D.C. for the disgraceful vandalism, in Lafayette Park, of the magnificent Statue of Andrew Jackson, in addition to the exterior defacing of St. John’s Church across the street,” Trump tweeted Monday night.

Interior Secretary David Bernhardt vowed the administration “will not bow to anarchists.”

Trump also has been critical of Seattle where protesters set up a police-free “autonomous zone” in the Capitol Hill area. Protesters have set up barricades around the zone and covered the area with signs, murals, memorials and various forms of art, putting a sign on the boarded up East Precinct police station reading, “This space is now property of the Seattle people.” Booths with food and snacks have been set up, and in the past week a community garden has popped up.

Trump has demanded Seattle authorities dismantle the zone and threatened to send in federal troops. Both Mayor Jenny Durkan and Gov. Jay Inslee rejected Trump’s demand. Police have said they will respond only to “life-safety issues” in the area.

The protesters are seeking a 50% defunding of the police, with the money going into community programs, as well as $50 million in the Black community. Durkan has announced some reforms, including a $100 million investment in community programs.

Durkan said Monday the city would begin to dismantle the zone and police would move back into the precinct soon.

“There will never be an “Autonomous Zone” in Washington, D.C., as long as I’m your President,” Trump tweeted.