Iraq War Vet on destroying statues: 'We don't solve problems via mob rule'
'They don't know historical context of what they're tearing down,' says Rob Smith, Iraq War veteran, weighing in on mobs tearing down historical monuments
In America, problems are not solved “via mob rule,” Army veteran Rob Smith told “Fox & Friends” on Thursday in the wake of destructive protests in Madison, Wis., and Washington, D.C.
Hundreds of troops with the Washington, D.C., National Guard have mobilized to protect monuments in the nation's capital, a Pentagon spokesperson has confirmed.
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt requested the action earlier this week, as protesters target statues and other historical markers during ongoing demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd’s police custody death in Minneapolis at the end of May.
Protesters on Monday attempted to tear down a statue of Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square by the White House. The Lincoln Memorial and WWII Memorial were also defaced in earlier protests.
“I do understand that there is a legitimate conversation to be had about the historical context of some of these statues, but I also understand that this is America. We do not solve problems via mob rule,” said Smith, the spokesperson for Turning Point USA, a non-profit organization with the goal of educating students to promote freedom.
“What we do is we actually bring up the legitimate concerns … We don't just tear statues down,” he continued.
Smith noted that some of the situations involving the tearing down of statues and monuments “end up being completely violent.”
He pointed to a couple of examples including the fact that a state senator in Wisconsin was attacked outside the Capitol during a night of violence that erupted following daylong protests.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers activated the National Guard on Wednesday after protesters toppled two statues, vandalized buildings and assaulted Democratic state Sen. Tim Carpenter the night before.
“I think it’s the right move to call the National Guard,” Smith said on Thursday, noting that they will be there “in a crowd control capacity.”
“So it's not going to be a situation where we have armed National Guard troops that are there to quell any kind of uprising there, but we do have to protect these monuments. We have to protect American history,” Smith said.
He stressed that “if there is an issue with historical context of some things, talk about it … but you do not just get a mob that is whipped up by social media to go tear things down.”
Smith said that doing that “is dangerous for the country and it is dangerous for all of those people that are there.”
In Wisconsin, Statues of “Lady Forward," and Union Army Col. Hans Christian Heg were torn down and removed from the grounds of the State Capitol.
“I have to say that a lot of these people that are tearing down some of these monuments and defacing them do not even know the historical context of what they are taking down,” Smith said.
He noted that Heg “was an abolitionist … that died fighting slavery.”
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President Trump warned Tuesday morning that anyone caught vandalizing monuments or any other federal property would be subject to arrest and face up to 10 years in prison under federal law.
Fox News’ Ronn Blitzer, Lucas Tomlinson and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
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