Four charged for vandalizing Jackson statue near White House as Trump demands maximum punishment

Four men filmed trying to tear down a statue of President Andrew Jackson have been charged with damaging federal property. President Trump earlier shared wanted posters related to the incident on Twitter.

Of the four individuals identified by investigators, one has been arrested and brought before a DC court, while three others remain at large. Aged between 20 and 47, the protesters face between up to 10 years in prison for their alleged crimes.

The attempt to topple the statue of President Jackson, accused by protesters of being a slave owner, happened on Monday, amid a wider wave of vandalism targeting monuments across the US. The mounted effigy of the man who led the United States from 1829 to 1837 withstood the iconoclastic effort, which came on the same day protesters attempted to establish an “autonomous zone” in Washington.

The charges were announced on Saturday in a joint statement by the Attorney's Office in DC, the FBI Washington Field Office’s Violent Crime Task Force and the US Park Police. They “should serve as a warning to those who choose to desecrate the statues and monuments that adorn our nation's capital: your violent behavior and criminal conduct will not be tolerated,”said Acting US Attorney Michael R. Sherwin. 

President Donald Trump earlier threatened people targeting the statue with the maximum 10-year punishment for their acts. He shared on his Twitter account multiple wanted posters released by law enforcement as they sought to identify the perpetrators.

Critics of the US president accused him of harassment and persecution of anti-racism protesters. The statue-toppling is part of a protest movement against racism and police brutality, which was triggered by the death of George Floyd during a police arrest.

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