FIRST ON FOX: Statue vandalism is being considered for harsher punishment after a pro-Hamas rally in Washington, DC, saw statues defaced.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., wants to impose mandatory minimum prison sentences on people who vandalize and deface statues on federal property.
The senator introduced the Saving Treasured Artifacts Through Uniform Application (STATUE) Act on Thursday, which would do just that.
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Tom Cotton introduced a bill to impose mandatory minimum sentences for vandals who deface statues on federal land. (Getty Images)
“Any protester who defaces statues of America’s heroes must face the full weight of the law. As Joe Biden seeks to appease the pro-Hamas wing of the Democratic Party, it is clear that his administration will do nothing to punish protesters who defaced statues of America’s heroes. area around the White House recently, the Senate should take up my legislation to punish these pro-Hamas lunatics,” Cotton said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
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If passed, the bill would prohibit anyone from intentionally injuring or destroying, or attempting to “damage or destroy, a structure, plaque, statue or other monument on public property.” Anyone found guilty of doing so would be subject to a fine of at least $1,000 and a prison sentence of at least five years, but no more than 10.
Cotton’s bill comes after a recent demonstration in the nation’s capital outside the White House, which included pro-Hamas protesters defacing statues. In Washington, D.C.’s Lafayette Square, protesters vandalized statues while protesting the Biden administration’s policy toward Israel and the war in Gaza.
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Anti-Israel protesters deface a statue in Washington DC on June 8, 2024. (FNTV)
Among the park’s defaced infrastructure were statues of former President Andrew Jackson riding a horse and the Comte de Rochambeau, who was a commander in the French army and helped the United States defend itself against the British in the Revolutionary War.
Messages scrawled on the statues included “Free Gaza” and “Free Palestine,” as well as “Death to AmeriKKKa” and even statements of support for the terrorist group Hamas, such as “Long live Hamas” and “Muslims 4 Hamas.”
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Cotton suggested that the Department of Justice should investigate the spike as it did on January 6, 2021. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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After the weekend demonstration, Cotton asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to conduct an investigation into it as it did with the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
“I hope the Justice Department uses all the techniques against them that it used against grannies in MAGA hats on January 6. And if they don’t do it now, they will do it next year,” he wrote in X.
