President Donald Trump has ordered the removal of the longest-standing anti-war protest in U.S. history.
Speaking to reporters at the White House on Friday, Trump appeared unaware that the White House Peace Park in Washington, D.C., existed and, upon hearing about it, demanded its immediate destruction.
“I didn’t know that. Take it down. Take it down today, right now,” Trump told White House staffers.
Known simply as the White House Peace Vigil, the tent and anti-war protest signs in Lafayette Park have been maintained by volunteers around-the-clock since June 1981.
Originally founded by activist William Thomas as a protest against nuclear weapons, the peace vigil has continued to be a site of general anti-war messaging and stands as a prominent symbol of free speech directly across from the U.S. seat of power.
The reporter speaking to Trump on Friday described the camp as an “eyesore” that journalists have to walk past to get to the White House.
“Its kind of morphed into an anti-America, anti-Trump—” the reporter said before Trump cut him off. “Morphed into radical left, OK,” Trump said.
The journalist continued that the protest is a health hazard and could be a “national security risk,” suggesting that the peace vigil could be used to harbor weapons.
Trump signed the “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful” executive order in March, aimed at removing homeless encampments in the area.
While Trump stated on Friday that “over 50″ camps have been removed since then, other reports state the number is as high as 75.
Amid the recent crackdown on crime in D.C., U.S. Park Police have been given the authority to threaten unhoused people with jail if they refuse to enter a shelter.
The vigil’s message inspired D.C. delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton to repeatedly introduce the Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act to Congress. The legislation would see funding for nuclear weapons redirected to address the climate crisis, healthcare, and housing needs.
Norton has said the law would reestablish America’s “moral leadership in the world.”
Last month, Congressman Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) also described the vigil as an “eyesore” and demanded that the Interior Department remove it.
Trump has consistently framed himself as the “President of Peace” and claimed that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his anti-war efforts. However, his recent re-branding of the Department of Defense to the Department of War appears at odds with this message.
As of mid-day on Saturday, the camp remains intact. Philipos Melaku-Bello, a longtime volunteer at the site, has said that there has been no change in interaction with the authorities.
“It was supposed to be immediately taken down,” Melaku-Bello told documentarian Ford Fisher. “Let’s see how long immediately lasts.”
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