The Trump administration is doing everything it can to protect federal monuments and statues from vandalism ahead of Independence Day weekend.
“The upcoming July 4th holiday weekend has the potential for increased disruptive activity at specific locations across the country that could threaten our personnel and the Federal facilities and property they protect,” a soon-to-be released DHS memo is expected to say, according to Fox News. “DHS will be forward leaning in preparing to protect federal facilities and property.”
Rapid Deployment Teams (RDTs) from the Protecting American Communities Task Force (PACT), and consisting of law enforcement officers specially trained in areas such as crowd control and riot control, will be dispatched to Portland, Seattle and Washington D.C.
Additional RDTs will be dispatched regionally so that they can be flown into any other area within a few hours should unrest spark up in other cities across the U.S.
This is on top of Federal Protective Service (FPS) presence being ramped up higher than usual for a weekend in response to the potential challenge. Hundreds of FPS officers will be protecting facilities, and DHS has identified an hundreds more in case they need assistance. (FoxNews.com)
The efforts come after President Trump’s recently-signed executive order that protects monuments from mob attacks.
On Wednesday morning he reminded that the order “is in full force and effect” and warned would-be rioters that they will put themselves in legal jeopardy if they attack monuments and statues.
My Executive Order to protect Monuments, Statues etc., IS IN FULL FORCE AND EFFECT. In excess of a 10 year prison term. Please do not put yourself in jeopardy. Many people now under arrest!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2020