President Trump accused states of getting “extremely weak in protecting their heritage and defending their lifestyle,” incorporating he would “enacted an act, a pretty specific statue and monument act, that places men and women in jail for 10 a long time if they attempt to do nearly anything to deface one of our monuments or statues.” 

The President produced a equivalent declare on Twitter earlier Tuesday, crafting, he had “authorized the Federal Govt to arrest any individual who vandalizes or destroys any monument, statue or other these kinds of Federal residence in the U.S. with up to 10 many years in prison, for every the Veteran’s Memorial Preservation Act, or these other legislation that might be pertinent.”

Talking at a law enforcement roundtable around the US-Mexico border in Yuma, Arizona, Trump talked about protests held in Lafayette Park Monday evening where by protesters attempted to topple an Andrew Jackson statue.

“Last night time in Washington, we heard they ended up likely to get down the statue– Washington, DC, the statue of Andrew Jackson, a lovely statue in Lafayette Park,” Trump mentioned. “We sent people today there and legislation enforcement did an incredible job they ran into that place and we have been minutes absent.”

“It was a sneak assault,” Trump said.

“Now we have enacted an act, a incredibly precise statue and monument act, that places men and women in jail for 10 yrs if they test do something to even deface a single of our monuments or statues. So we have numerous individuals in jail right now, other people are going there, and we’re likely to seem at that from a standpoint of retroactivity. We can go again and search at some of the problems they’ve carried out.”

Trump then shifted the aim, and the blame, to states.