Tiki torch statue goes up in DC, joining Pelosi poop desk 'honoring' Trump supporters
WASHINGTON - A tiki torch statue harkening back to the 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. went up in Freedom Plaza Monday.
The statue was erected by the same organizers who dropped a poop statue to "honor" the Jan. 6 rioters on Capitol Hill last week.
The plaque that accompanies the tiki torch statue says that the monument "pays tribute to President Donald Trump and the ‘very fine people’ he boldly stood to defend when they marched into Charlottesville, Virginia. While many have called them white supremacists and neo-nazis, President Trump''s voice rang out above the rest to remind all that they were ‘treated absolutely unfairly."
On the night of Aug. 11, 2017, hundreds of white nationalists flooded the University of Virginia. They marched through the campus carrying torches, spouting racist rhetoric like "Jews Will Not Replace Us."
The two days of demonstrations were organized in part to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. It was believed to be the largest gathering of white nationalists in a decade.
After the clash at the university, violence broke out the next day when a "Unite the Right" rally was planned.
After police declared the gathering an unlawful assembly and the crowd began to disperse, James Alex Fields Jr., a white supremacist from Maumee, Ohio, intentionally rammed his car into a crowd of anti-racist counterprotesters, killing one and injuring dozens. Fields is serving a life sentence for murder and hate crimes.
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In the days following the deadly violence, then-President Trump was asked if he condemned the actions. Trump instead defended the demonstrators, sparking intense criticism for his remarks.
"You had many people in that group other than neo-Nazis and white nationalists," Trump said at the time. "The press has treated them absolutely unfairly."
"You also had some very fine people on both sides," he said.
The tiki torch joins a huge bronze ‘poop’ statue placed on Capitol Hill on Oct. 24. The poop, sculpted in the style of the well-known emoji, is sitting on a desk with Nancy Pelosi’s nameplate in front of it aloong with a plaque that reads:
"This memorial honors the brave men and women who broke into the United States Capitol on January 6th, 2021 to loot, urinate, and defecate throughout those hallowed halls in order to overturn an election.
"President Trump celebrates these heroes of January 6th as "unbelievable patriots" and "warriors." This monument stands as a testament to their daring sacrifice and lasting legacy."
The National Park Service granted the permit request for "The Resolute Desk" and the "Tiki Torch Sculpture" to Civic Crafted LLC, and Julia Jimenez-Pyzik, the person listed in charge of it.
The permit states that both statues will remain up until Oct. 31.