Pro-Palestinian protesters vandalized multiple statues in Lafayette Park across from the White House on Saturday, but no arrests were made, offering another stark contrast between President Joe Biden’s and former President Donald Trump’s administrations.
Among the statues damaged were those of Revolutionary War heroes Marquis de Lafayette and French Gen. Comte de Rochambeau, both of whom fought alongside George Washington in the decisive Battle of Yorktown in 1781 that in effect ended the war, The Washington Post reported.
The protesters also desecrated the statue of former President Andrew Jackson, who led the Americans to victory over the British in the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812.
“Anti-American, pro-Hamas thugs desecrated the statues of our veterans literally across the street from the White House, a blatant violation of federal law. On video,” Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas said Sunday in a post on X.
“I expect the Department of Justice to use every technique against them that it used against grandmas in MAGA hats on January 6. And if it doesn’t now, it will next year,” he added.
Anti-American, pro-Hamas thugs desecrated the statues of our veterans literally across the street from the White House, a blatant violation of federal law. On video. I expect the Department of Justice to use every technique against them that it used against grandmas in MAGA hats… pic.twitter.com/0eSYzgNjmD
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) June 9, 2024
The Washington Free Beacon reported no arrests were made among the thousands of demonstrators who were calling on Biden to force a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
“Slogans such as ‘Israel go to hell, Hamas is justified’ and ‘Death to Amerikkka’ were graffitied on city property, and protesters blocked traffic as they held signs reading, ‘F*** Israel. Stand with Hamas.’ Other chants included, ‘Kill another Zionist now’ and ‘Death to Israel,’” the outlet reported.
Should those who vandalize statues face criminal charges?
It further noted that protesters wore masks and keffiyehs (headdresses) to cover their faces, which D.C. law prohibits.
The code for the district states that it’s unlawful to enter public property or “hold any manner of meeting or demonstration” while “wearing any mask, hood, or device whereby any portion of the face is hidden, concealed, or covered as to conceal the identity of the wearer.”
Look at how these Hamas supporters treat a Park Ranger just for doing his job to protect a statue in a Washington DC park. They mocked him and vandalized the statue.
Can we please stop pretending that these are peaceful protests? https://t.co/R0d7LqMTC0
— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) June 9, 2024
The Washington Times reported that protesters chanted slogans such as “Intifada revolution” and “We don’t want no two-state/We want ’48,” referring to the year of Israel’s formation consistent with a U.N. resolution partitioning the land between Jewish and Arab inhabitants.
The U.S. Park Service Fraternal Order of Police posted on X on Sunday, “A severe shortage of U.S. Park Police Officers prevented safe and effective police operations.”
Blaze Media correspondent Julio Rosas further pointed out, “US Park Police FOP say only 71 officers were assigned to police a protest that had around 9,000 people. They also say Park Police Command staff did not allow officers to wear riot gear.”
For people asking where the police were yesterday, the US Park Police FOP say only 71 officers were assigned to police a protest that had around 9,000 people.
They also say Park Police Command staff did not allow officers to wear riot gear. https://t.co/bU2JB38Llq
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) June 9, 2024
The rangers tried to protect the statues but simply did not have the personnel to do it.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates did not even address the vandalism in a statement to NBC News.
“President Biden has always been clear that every American has the right to peacefully express their views,” he said. “But he has also always been clear that Antisemitism, violent rhetoric, and endorsing murderous terrorist organizations like Hamas is repugnant, dangerous, and against everything we stand for as a country.”
Fox News reported that the administration was aware of the protest in Lafayette Park well ahead of time and had, in fact, placed “several additional barriers” around the White House.
Contrast Biden’s lack of concern for protecting statues and other public property with Trump’s response in 2020.
That year, protesters tried to pull down the statue of Jackson in Lafayette Park and did damage to others all around the country, such as those of Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ulysses Grant and abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
Anti-racism protesters tried to pull down a monument of Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, in a park near the White House before police intervened. https://t.co/oy3z685A61 pic.twitter.com/jXptDZCHKW
— ABC News (@ABC) June 23, 2020
On June 26, 2020, three days after the Jackson monument incident, Trump issued an executive order that said, “Key targets in the violent extremists’ campaign against our country are public monuments, memorials, and statues.”
“Their selection of targets reveals a deep ignorance of our history, and is indicative of a desire to indiscriminately destroy anything that honors our past and to erase from the public mind any suggestion that our past may be worth honoring, cherishing, remembering, or understanding,” it said.
Trump announced that his administration would be prosecuting “to the fullest extent permitted under Federal law” anyone who vandalized a monument, citing Section 1361 of Title 18, U.S. Code, “which authorizes a penalty of up to 10 years’ imprisonment for the willful injury of Federal property.”
He also sent in the National Guard into D.C. days ahead of issuing his order, The Hill reported.
A funny thing happened. Once protesters knew a prison sentence of 10 years was on the table and Trump meant business, the statues stopped tumbling down.
Biden revoked Trump’s monuments executive order soon after taking office in January 2021, and we see the results.
Whether it’s the border, the economy, foreign relations or destruction of the country’s heritage, the president always seems to put America last.
