Lincoln Park saw an awkward clash Thursday night after left-wing protesters said they planned to demonstrate against a statue of Abraham Lincoln in Washington, DC, which had been paid for by freed slaves and dedicated by African-American abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
The authorities took precautions beforehand. They installed fences and visibly deployed the police, but videos from social media showed that a small crowd of vocal protesters had gathered nearby.
Barriers are erected around the Emancipation Monument in Washington, which represents a freed slave kneeling at the feet of President Abraham Lincoln, on Thursday, June 25, 2020. Calls for the statue to be removed as the nation faces racial injustice. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)
The Emancipation Memorial depicts Lincoln holding the Emancipation Proclamation and standing next to a chained and kneeling African American. It represents the abolition of slavery in the United States, but opponents have criticized the juxtaposition of a Lincoln looming over a black man on one knee.
“It is the position that it is rising,” President Trump told Sean Hannity of Fox News in a town hall special on Thursday night. “He is being released by Abraham Lincoln. And I can see controversy, but I can also see beauty in it. ”
The president said he would prefer a legal process to examine which monuments deserve to be removed, echoing comments from DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, who warned that a “mafia” would not decide which statues will be placed in the nation’s capital. .
The Emancipation Memorial in Lincoln Park in Washington shows a freed slave kneeling at the feet of President Abraham Lincoln on Thursday, June 25, 2020. Calls for the statue to be removed as the nation confronts to racial injustice. (AP Photo / J. Scott Applewhite)
DC CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATE WANTS LINCOLN’S ‘PROBLEM’ STATUE REMOVED FROM LINCOLN PARK
His comments came after a crowd attempted to tear down a nearby statue of former President Andrew Jackson over the weekend and as criticism of the Lincoln statue intensified.
Earlier in the week, protesters announced that they planned to demonstrate at the Emancipation Monument on Thursday and Friday night. And on Tuesday, Washington Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton said she planned to introduce legislation to remove the “troublesome” statue.
“Although previously enslaved Americans paid for the construction of this statue in 1876, the design and sculpture process was carried out without their input and it shows,” Holmes Norton said in a statement.
DC BOWSER MAYOR SAYS ‘MOB’ MUST NOT DECIDE WHICH STATUES FALL AS PROTECTORS EYE LINCOLN
He argued that the former slaves who financed the statue “were recently released” and were “grateful for any recognition of their freedom.”
Following the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25, protesters have demolished statues in cities across the country.
Its objectives range from Confederate monuments to Ulysses S. Grant. They have overthrown the Catholic saints, Christopher Columbus and George Washington.
President Trump weighed in on the issue Tuesday, tweeting that he had “authorized” authorities to crack down on vandalism and destruction of federal property.
“I have authorized the Federal Government to arrest anyone who destroys or destroys any federal monument, statue or other property in the United States with up to 10 years in prison, in accordance with the Veterans Monument Preservation Act or other laws that may be relevant, ”wrote the president.
By Thursday, Fox News cameras near the base of the monument discovered that authorities had installed fences around the Emancipation statue and that police were outside the park.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“They missed the boat trying to tear down that statue,” City Council reporter Julio Rosas told Tucker Carlson on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” on Thursday. “Really the best time for them to try was Tuesday because the police were on the side. There was no fence. “
Fox News’ Morgan Phillips and Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
