Trump admin demands statue of Confederate general be reinstated in nation's capital
President Donald Trump's government is demanding that the statue of a Confederate general be reinstalled on Union soil after citizens tore it down, set it on fire, and defaced it with spray paint.
The National Park Service will erect the bronze statue of Gen. Albert Pike after demonstrators destroyed it as it stood outside the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department headquarters in June 2020, NBC News reported Monday.
“The restoration aligns with federal responsibilities under historic preservation law as well as recent executive orders to beautify the nation’s capital and re-instate (sic) pre-existing statues,” the agency said in a statement.
At the time, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser complained about property destruction, and Trump demanded that the statue go back up less than one week later.
The statue will likely go up in October, the statement read.
“Site preparation to repair the statue’s damaged masonry plinth will begin shortly, with crews repairing broken stone, mortar joints, and mounting elements,” the Park Service continued.
The statue has been controversial for years after Freemasons asked that it be built because Pike was among their longtime leaders. Congress granted them the land for the statue as long as Pike was depicted as a civilian and not as a Confederate general.
Efforts to remove the statue have been going on since 1992.