Tom Cotton on Rioters Attacking Andrew Jackson Statue: ‘Lock ‘Em Up!’

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) called for rioters who attempted to pull down the Andrew Jackson statue near the White House on Monday evening to be locked up.

Commenting on Twitter, Cotton noted that the statue is federal property and that destroying it “carries a 10-year sentence under the Veterans Memorial Preservation and Recognition Act.”

Breitbart News reported that the statue depicts Jackson in uniform astride a horse at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, one of the most important battles of the War of 1812.

Title 18 of the U.S. Code, section 1369, reads:

§1369. Destruction of veterans’ memorials
(a) Whoever, in a circumstance described in subsection (b), willfully injures or destroys, or attempts to injure or destroy, any structure, plaque, statue, or other monument on public property commemorating the service of any person or persons in the armed forces of the United States shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.

(b) A circumstance described in this subsection is that-
(1) in committing the offense described in subsection (a), the defendant travels or causes another to travel in interstate or foreign commerce, or uses the mail or an instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce; or
(2) the structure, plaque, statue, or other monument described in subsection (a) is located on property owned by, or under the jurisdiction of, the Federal Government.

Preston Phillips posted video of police moving in to prevent the statue from being toppled:

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.