Four men are facing federal charges after they attempted to tear down a statue of former President Andrew Jackson located near the White House.
Lee Michael Cantrell, 47, of Virginia; Connor Matthew Judd, 20, of Washington, D.C.; Ryan Lane, 37, of Maryland; and Graham Lloyd, 37, of Maine were charged with destruction of federal property after they were allegedly captured on video trying to remove the statue on June 22, according to the Justice Department. If found guilty, the men could be sentenced to one year in federal prison.
“The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia will not stand idly by and allow our national monuments to be vandalized and destroyed,” acting U.S. Attorney Michael Sherwin said on Saturday. “This Office remains steadfast in its commitment to protect the sacred First Amendment right of individuals to peacefully protest, but these charges should serve as a warning to those who choose to desecrate the statues and monuments that adorn our nation’s capital: your violent behavior and criminal conduct will not be tolerated.”
President Trump tweeted out 15 posters of unidentified suspects wanted by the FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force and U.S. Park Police as law enforcement authorities are attempting to identify additional protesters who were filmed vandalizing the statue of the seventh president last week.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2020
The president signed an executive order to address monument vandalism on Friday. The order will strip state and local government funding from jurisdictions that fail to protect statues, memorials, and monuments from destruction.
