The tearing down and defacing of monuments seems to be a daily news item. And it appears those tearing them down or defacing them are out of control youth who have no fear of the law.
Recently our mayor took down a statue in the middle of Jacksonville — in the middle of the night. He was very proud of his decision to do that and said it was time to right the wrongs of the confederacy. As Mayor he could do that even though it wasn’t handled well and the voters had no decision in the matter. That decision will only be rectified by voters if he should choose to run for another office later.
As for out of control groups taking down monuments and defacing them, they are lawbreakers – plain and simple. They have no right to destroy public property. At least the monuments taken down by politicians are being housed somewhere for safe keeping.
The lawless gangs are not held accountable for their lawless acts. That leaves open the door for them to create even more lawless acts. While our city puts together commissions for dealing with crime, pours money into crime-ridden neighborhoods, and marches with groups to say “No more” — they are allowing the lawlessness to continue.
This week the Andrew Jackson statue sitting in the middle of downtown was defaced – twice. Jacksonville was named after President Andrew Jackson and if it doesn’t stop now — the name of Jacksonville sill soon be on the agenda for a change because thugs will demand it. Will thugs run our city or our city leaders?
We cannot let lawlessness run rampant in our streets. We want the criminals who deface any monuments to be caught, fined and jailed. This is the only way to stop more lawlessness in our streets.
There are cameras all over downtown and surely the criminals can be found and prosecuted.
Today our President tweeted these words about vandalism of monuments and we hope our city leaders will take heed and follow suit.
If we want to get a handle on crime in our streets, start with the lowest lying fruit — little thugs who take red paint and try to erase history. If we catch them when they do little crimes, we can stop them from murdering innocent people later on.
That’s the path they are on and if we do not stop them now — they will not have a chance to be good citizens who love our country and can support a peaceful life in our community.
We the people have had enough. If the city leaders are not willing to arrest those who destroy public property — I fear what might happen next. The blood is boiling under the skin of people who obey the laws of the land, pay their taxes, and want to live in peace. They can only push people so far.
So far is right around the corner.
