Police in Dixon, Illinois, said that they have identified two people who allegedly vandalized a statue of President Ronald Reagan.
The statue, which sits near the city’s downtown area, was vandalized sometime overnight on July 14, police said. Pictures of the vandalism show the words “Black Lives Matter” written in spray paint along the base of the monument, which features Reagan on top of a horse.
Reagan statue vandalizedhttps://t.co/CGnQSMO49j
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) July 22, 2020
Shortly after the damage occurred, local police published photos of two suspects and asked the public for help identifying them. Police said they have identified the pair.
Reagan lived in Dixon from 1920 to 1933.
We have identified the subjects reference the vandalism to the Reagan Statue.
Thank you to everyone for their assistance!
— Dixon Police (@DixonPolice) July 20, 2020
Since the Memorial Day death of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter activists and others have targeted monuments of Confederate soldiers, U.S. presidents, and other public figures who have complicated histories relating to race.
President Trump has condemned the vandalizing or tearing down of many of these monuments, saying they honor the country’s history and traditions.
“Anarchists and left-wing extremists have sought to advance a fringe ideology that paints the United States of America as fundamentally unjust and have sought to impose that ideology on Americans through violence and mob intimidation,” the White House said in an executive order on the protection of monuments. “They have led riots in the streets, burned police vehicles, killed and assaulted government officers as well as business owners defending their property, and even seized an area within one city where law and order gave way to anarchy. During the unrest, innocent citizens also have been harmed and killed.”
Last summer, the Atlantic published a recording of a phone conversation between Reagan and then-President Richard Nixon from October 1971, during which the two men exchanged racist remarks the day after the United Nations voted to recognize the People’s Republic of China.
“Last night, I tell you, to watch that thing on television as I did,” Reagan said. “To see those, those monkeys from those African countries. Damn them. They’re still uncomfortable wearing shoes.”
