Protesters have attempted to bring down a statue in front of the White House in Washington. It was an image of former President Andrew Jackson who supported slavery.
The demonstrators were pushed back by law enforcement officers. At the same time, Trump has threatened them with a 10-year prison sentence under the Veteran’s Memorial Preservation Act, a law prohibiting the destruction of statues and monuments on federal grounds.
The protesters had managed to penetrate the security perimeter around the White House. It has been strengthened since the wave of protests against racism. Afterward, they put ropes around the statue of the seventh controversial American president and tried – in vain – to knock it down.
On one side of the image, the word “killer” was written in black letters. According to one of the protesters, they were attacked by the police, who allegedly used pepper spray.
“Several people have been arrested in DC for the shameful vandalizing, in Lafayette Park, of the beautiful statue of Andrew Jackson,” Trump tweeted. “10 years in prison under the Veteran’s Memorial Preservation Act. Beware!”
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was in the White House from 1829 to 1837. He is controversial because he supported slavery and because he had large numbers of Indian tribes deported.
President Donald Trump is a fan of Andrew Jackson, whom he honored in the past as the first “populist” president. Five days after his inauguration, Trump posted a portrait of his distant predecessor in the Oval Office.
He also laid a wreath on Jackson’s grave on his Tennessee plantation to mark the 250th anniversary of his birth.
