Sen. Cotton: Time to Crack Down on Mobs Attacking Statues

The Justice Department and FBI should investigate, arrest, and prosecute people who are tearing down statues nationally and show that there are legal consequences for such "mob violence," or it will get worse every day, Sen. Tom Cotton said Wednesday. 

"There couldn't be a more clear-cut law, called the Veteran's Memorial Preservation Act," the Arkansas Republican said on Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "That law makes it a federal crime punishable by up to 10 years to deface or to attempt to tear down a statue commemorating someone's military service on federal property." 

Cotton added that there is no need for further laws on defacing property, as there is already legislation, including the Riot Act. 

The senator said he was concerned when he saw people trying to pull down a statue of Andrew Jackson in Washington, D.C.'s, Lafayette Square, and worried about where the police were. 

"Fortunately the police got there in time to stop it," said Cotton. "It already was defaced on its pedestal."

Cotton said the perpetrators "aren't exactly criminal masterminds" because "they videotape themselves on social media." 

He also took offense at New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's comments that he thinks such protests are a "healthy expression of people saying, 'let's get some priorities here.'"

"It is extraordinarily unhealthy in a democratic society governed by the rule of law when public officials look the other way and allow mob vigilantes to tear down statues or to try to destroy them," or to "allow the mob to prevail," said Cotton.  

Meanwhile, the protesters are showing that they "hate America" by tearing down statues of figures unrelated to slavery, such as one of President Ulysses S. Grant, who commanded the Union Army during the Civil War, said Cotton. 

"It's not about the Civil War, it's because you hate America," said Cotton. "It's that simple."

• Sen. Cotton Calls on DOJ to Prosecute Statue Vandals
• Trump Warns: 10 Years in Prison for Toppling Jackson Statue