President Donald Trump threatened lengthy prison sentences in a Tuesday tweet for anyone caught vandalizing or destroying federal monuments.
"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, per the Veteran's Memorial Preservation Act, or such other laws that may be pertinent," he wrote in the early morning post.
His comments come as protestors nationwide have taken to defacing monuments dedicated to historical figures linked to racism, slavery, and colonialism.
What started as a movement targeting symbols of racism against African Americans, like monuments to Confederate soldiers and generals, has since forced the reckoning of other controversial figures in history, like Christopher Columbus, who annihilated indigenous populations in West Indies and kicked off the transatlantic slave trade.
Even obscure figures haven't been spared. The family of Josephus Daniels, a publisher and white supremacist credited with ushering in the Jim Crow era in North Carolina has removed a statue of him in Raleigh, according to the Raleigh News & Observer.
In Richmond, Virginia, police stepped in to thwart the efforts of protestors to topple a statue of Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart. Authorities declared the gathering an "unlawful assembly" and arrested several protestors.
In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio supported the American Museum of Natural History's decision to remove a statue of President Theodore Roosevelt. The statue depicts him atop a horse while he is flanked by a Black American and a Native American.
"The statue itself communicates a racial hierarchy that the Museum and members of the public have long found disturbing," a statement from the Museum reads.
Despite his recent defense of a statue of Christopher Columbus at Manhattan's Columbus Circle as a tribute not to Columbus' past but to the legacy of Italian Americans in New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo was also supportive of the Museum's actions. Mayor de Blasio charged his newly formed Racial Justice and Reconciliation Commission, which is headed by his wife Chirlane McCray, with determining the fate of other statues, including U.S. founding fathers Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, in and around the City Council's chambers.
Monday evening in Washington, DC, protesters attempted to topple a statue of President Andrew Jackson, who has been widely panned for his treatment of Native Americans. The move against the statue, located near the White House, precipitated Trump's tweets.
Prior to the early morning tweet, though, Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany had outlined the Trump Administration's take on protestors' actions, calling them "quite confusing."
"We're being told that George Washington's statue needs to come down, Thomas Jefferson's statue needs to come down," she said. "Where do you draw the line -- from Gandhi all the way to George Washington?"
Activists have argued the action is as much about creating a more nuanced narrative of history that also includes the experiences of black and indigenous people, as it is about recognizing the flaws of America's past that led up to its still unequal present.
Arguing for the removal of monuments to racist figures and the Confederacy is nothing new.
It tends to re-emerge in the aftermath of racism-fueled tragedies like the death of George Floyd and, previously, the 2015 Charleston Church Shooting. There are signs that slow, but incremental, progress has been made. The Southern Poverty Law Center reported that between the years of 2015 -- when a gunman opened fire in a historically Black church in South Carolina, killing nine -- and 2019, about 115 confederate monuments were removed nationwide. At the time, some 1,748 still stood.
Catching you up on today's entertainment headlines with the Tribeca Film Festival has kicked off in NYC, "Black Adam," starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson dropped its first full trailer, the musical "Come From Away" based on a true story set during 9/11 will be closing on Broadway this October, and more.
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With real estate being a largely male-dominated industry, Stephanie Shojaee, vice president and chief marketing officer at development company Shoma Group, joined Cheddar News to discuss how she took on the gender gap for women to achieve leadership roles, starting at her own company. “It's been very important to teach all the women that work here, especially the younger ones, that they shouldn't change themselves," she said. "You need to be happy with who you are and just keep breaking barriers."
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If you have been on the road this past year, you've probably seen more accidents on the road than you ever have. You're not wrong. Traffic fatalities are not only increasing they are hitting historic highs. Almost 43,000 people died in motor vehicle accidents in 2021. Cheddar's Shannon Lanier investigates - and finds out why.
U.S. stocks close Tuesday at session highs after a subpar start to the trading day. Tim Chubb, Chief Investment Officer at the wealth advisory firm, Girard, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss. 'We're starting to see the moderation of three core things -- we've seen the moderation of prices, we've seen the moderation of wage growth we've seen in the labor market, and we've also seen a moderation of job openings,' he says.
The victims from the USA gymnastics sexual abuse scandal continue to seek justice. Survivors of Larry Nassar are seeking more than one-billion dollars from the FBI for failing to stop the convicted sports doctor when the agency first received allegations. According to a report released by the Justice Department's Inspector General, FBI agents knew
in July of 2015 that Nassar was accused of abusing gymnasts; however, Nassar wasn't arrested until December of 2016. The group that filed the claim includes Olympic medalist Simone Biles and around 90 other women. Louise Radnofsky, sports reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Tattoo artist Katrina "Kat Tat" Jackson, famous for starring in the VH1 hit series "Black Ink Crew: Chicago," is also the first Black woman to own a tattoo shop in Beverly Hills. She joined Cheddar News to discuss her trailblazing work, the stigma BIPOC tattoo artists face in the industry, and the way the space has changed for artists of color since her start. "In the beginning, I remember walking into a tattoo shop just like, hey, I wanna learn, I wanna be a tattoo artist and kind of just being laughed at, not taken seriously," she said. "Even with the tattoo conventions, a lot of African American tattoo artists were almost scared to go to conventions because it's not a welcoming environment."
