DHS Announces New Task Force to Protect American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues

Today, Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, Chad F. Wolf, announced the establishment of the DHS Protecting American Communities Task Force (PACT), a special task force to coordinate Departmental law enforcement agency assets in protecting our nation’s historic monuments, memorials, statues, and federal facilities.

“DHS is answering the President’s call to use our law enforcement personnel across the country to protect our historic landmarks,” said Acting Secretary Wolf. “We won’t stand idly by while violent anarchists and rioters seek not only to vandalize and destroy the symbols of our nation, but to disrupt law and order and sow chaos in our communities.”

On June 26th, President Trump issued an Executive Order to ensure that our historic monuments and statues will be protected. The Order, “Protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues and Combating Recent Criminal Activity,” directs DHS, within its statutory authority, to provide personnel to assist with the protection of federal monuments, memorials, statues, or property.

As a result, DHS created the PACT, which will conduct ongoing assessments of potential civil unrest or destruction and allocate resources to protect people and property. This may involve potential surge activity to ensure the continuing protection of critical locations. DHS’s Office of Operations Coordination will also partner closely with the Departments of Justice and Interior to establish information and intelligence sharing.

“As we approach the July 4th holiday, I have directed the deployment and pre-positioning of Rapid Deployment Teams (RDT) across the country to respond to potential threats to facilities and property,” said Acting Secretary Wolf. “While the Department respects every American’s right to protest peacefully, violence and civil unrest will not be tolerated.”

We are tracking down the two Anarchists who threw paint on the magnificent George Washington Statue in Manhattan. We have them on tape. They will be prosecuted and face 10 years in Prison based on the Monuments and Statues Act. Turn yourselves in now!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 30, 2020

The destruction is expected to continue and spike during 4th of July celebrations, including warnings that those unrelated to any movement will be destroyed.

The Lincoln monument statue was paid for by freed slaves as a tribute to President Lincoln & was commissioned by Frederick Douglass. Quote Tweet

This is very sad. The money to build this monument was donated by countless freedmen who were happy to have built the very first Lincoln monument. Frederick Douglass proudly gave the keynote speech at its dedication. https://t.co/ghFcwGripP

— Timothy Sandefur (@TimothySandefur) June 24, 2020