Trump threatens anyone who destroys monuments in US with 10 years in prison
Donald Trump has threatened anyone who desecrates statues in the US with ten years in prison after a number of prominent monuments were defaced and pulled down alongside ongoing civil rights protests in the US.
The US president added that any action could be applied "retroactively" to those who had caused damage to such sites in recent weeks. It comes after statues - particularly those of figures linked to the confederacy and other commemorating Chistopher Columbus - were defaced by protestors aligned with the Black Lives Matter movement which has seen action spread across the nation since the death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis last month.
"I have authorized the Federal Government to arrest anyone who vandalizes or destroys any monument, statue or other such Federal property in the US with up to 10 years in prison, per the Veteran’s Memorial Preservation Act, or such other laws that may be pertinent.", he wrote on Twitter. "This action is taken effective immediately, but may also be used retroactively for destruction or vandalism already caused. There will be no exceptions!"
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