Rioters in Washington, D.C. defaced a monument honoring the victims of communism

Rioters have vandalized and damaged several historic monuments in Washington, D.C. including one statue erected to honor the victims of communism, which was spray painted with several protest messages, including one that said “BLM” – the initials of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The statue was erected by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOCM). It is located in Washington, D.C. and former President George W. Bush himself dedicated the statue on June 12, 2007. According to the VOCM, the statue was erected to remember “that the history of communist tyranny will be taught to future generations.”

The memorial is a 10-foot tall bronze replica of the “Goddess of Democracy,” a 33-foot tall foam and papier-mache statue built by Chinese anti-communist workers and student activists during the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989. When China began stamping out the protests, a tank was used to push over the Goddess of Democracy, causing it to fall and break apart easily. Thousands of Chinese civilians killed and many more were arrested in the ensuing crackdown.

(2/2) The culprits are not yet known. The site has been targeted by socialist extremist and Antifa groups in the past. pic.twitter.com/YGSEwiCa4e

— Marion Smith (@smithmarion) June 2, 2020

“Given that Antifa groups openly espouse Marxist ideology and have vandalized our memorial before, it’s not surprising that the group would deface it and dishonor the memory of more than 100 million dead again,” said Marion Smith, executive director of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, in a statement made to The Daily Caller.

“We call on the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department to protect public spaces and memorials like ours from further vandalism and destruction,” he added.

Listen to the Health Ranger Report by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, as he talks about how the engineered riots are a communist uprising.

Destruction of monuments “hurtful on a number of levels”

President Donald Trump has blamed a lot of the violence and property damage in Washington, D.C. on Antifa, a loosely organized group of people who identify with the far left. Attorney General William Barr even announced over the weekend that they designate Antifa as a terrorist organization and will prosecute members who have “participated in acts of domestic terrorism.”

Photos provided by the National Parks Service show that the rioters in Washington, D.C. damaged or defaced several other historic monuments in the capital, including both the Lincoln Memorial and the World War II Memorial. Additionally, St. John’s Episcopal Church, famous for being the “church of the presidents,” sustained damage in a minor fire on Sunday night. St. John’s Church is located across the street from the White House.

In the wake of last night's demonstrations, there are numerous instances of vandalism to sites around the National Mall. For generations the Mall has been our nation’s premier civic gathering space for non-violent demonstrations, and we ask individuals to carry on that tradition. pic.twitter.com/LmIHfW2AHj

— National Mall NPS (@NationalMallNPS) May 31, 2020

When asked about the damage to historic sites, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said that it was “hurtful on a number of levels” and that it does not “make much sense” for protesters to target historic monuments.

“That doesn’t honor George Floyd,” she said. “It doesn’t, and certainly not the burning of St. John’s Church.”

“And those are violent anarchists, antifa, who are taking advantage of the pain of people, the pain of the peaceful protesters,” she added.

Protest groups in Washington, D.C. continue to defy authorities

Despite the fact that Washington, D.C. has instituted a curfew – along with over 40 other cities across the country – protesters continue to congregate in the nation’s capital.

While things are appearing to lighten up around the capital and the violence of the past few days has abated, more National Guard troops are still being sent to Washington to support local and federal law enforcement in their mission to enforce safety. The different units that can be seen in the capital range from local law enforcement, the Secret Service, U.S. Park Police, the FBI and even the DEA. (Related: Additional National Guard units deployed as riots and looting overtake the country.)

In response to the historic monuments having been vandalized, a large contingent of the National Guard lined up in front of the Lincoln Memorial on Tuesday afternoon.

Lincoln Memorial, 2020
(pic @MarthaRaddatz) pic.twitter.com/P608pnGJcv

— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) June 2, 2020

On Wednesday, the demonstrations continued. D.C. law enforcement officers cut off the demonstrators from their main protest area near Lafayette Park, right in front of the White House. This marks the sixth consecutive day of protests occurring in Washington, D.C. as part of the nationwide demonstrations.

One person, who has joined the demonstrations since they began on Friday, May 29, said that the move to keep protesters away from Lafayette Park constitutes a pattern. On Friday night, the group could be found very near the White House itself. Once the protests died down, law enforcement pushed back the protest zone to Lafayette Park.

“I’m sure tomorrow we’ll be pushed back even more,” the protester said.

Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser made a brief appearance at the demonstration on Wednesday afternoon, where she urged for a peaceful protest, and called on the groups present to disavow anybody planning to destroy public or private property. It should be noted that Mayor Bowser is vehemently against President Trump’s plan to bring the U.S. military to the capital to clamp down on the protests. She has said that not only does she think such an act would be unconscionable, but that it may also be illegal.

Rioting.news has more unbiased and up-to-date coverage on the escalating violence in the country.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

GeorgeWBush-WhiteHouse.Archives.gov

Web.Archive.org

WashingtonExaminer.com

EpiscopalNewsService.org

NBCNews.com

WUSA9.com

USAToday.com