{"id":2066,"date":"2026-06-22T23:36:06","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T23:36:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2066"},"modified":"2026-06-22T23:36:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T23:36:06","slug":"analysis-of-trump-doj-results-pours-cold-water-on-his-pledge-to-jail-dc-vandals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2066","title":{"rendered":"Analysis of Trump DOJ results pours cold water on his pledge to jail DC ‘vandals’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

President Donald Trump has threatened a decade in jail for the people who supposedly vandalized Washington DC institutions like the Reflecting Pool \u2014 yet his own Justice Department\u2019s recent results poke a giant hole in that claim.<\/p>\n

Read more CNN supercut lays bare Trump\u2019s embarrassing boasts about his doomed Reflecting Pool<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cOn Monday, one might have expected a stiff punishment when Washington resident Micah Avery Jr. was finally sentenced after a five-year legal saga that began during the mass protests against racism and police violence in the spring of 2020,\u201d Politico\u2019s Josh Gerstein reported on Monday. \u201cAvery was charged with destruction of federal property for painting the words \u2018Yall not tired yet?\u2019 onto one of the stone outcroppings of the Lincoln Memorial.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gerstein made this point because Trump claims the people he accused of vandalizing major monuments will receive 10 years in jail for doing so.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you so much as touch, or even think about destroying, a statue or a monument in Washington D.C., you go to jail for 10 years with no probation, no anything,\u201d Trump said earlier this month to justify his attempt to take over the Washington DC police force and deploy the National Guard troops throughout the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get jailed 10 years, no curtailed sentence, 10 years,\u201d Trump added, in comments that the administration referenced again when accusing people of sabotaging his Reflecting Pool renovations.<\/p>\n

Yet Avery, a Black Lives Matter protester who spray-painted a slogan on the Lincoln Memorial, received a plea deal under Trump\u2019s own Justice Department that included one year of probation, 60 hours of community service and a $500 fine.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key decisions leading to that sentence \u2014 handed down in federal court Monday afternoon \u2014 were made under Trump appointees: Ed Martin, the controversial interim U.S. attorney for Washington at the outset of Trump\u2019s second term, and Jeanine Pirro, Martin\u2019s Senate-confirmed successor,\u201d Gerstein reported. \u201cUnder Martin, federal prosecutors and Avery\u2019s defense attorney hashed out a deal to downgrade Avery\u2019s case from a felony to a misdemeanor. It is just the sort of plea bargain that Trump has repeatedly suggested would not take place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Give me a break\u2019: Even judges appointed by Trump are sick of his \u2018bad behavior\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Gerstein added, \u201cThat deal was presented to and approved by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an Obama appointee, in the first days of Pirro\u2019s tenure. And earlier this month, Pirro and her deputies recommended that the judge give Avery probation, even though he could have received up to a year in prison under the plea deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

A White House spokesperson dismissed the outcome of Avery\u2019s case as an aberration caused by recordkeeping issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cImproperly kept records from a crime that was committed five years ago limited the penalties this individual was able to receive,\u201d a spokesperson told Politico. \u201cThe administration will continue to seek the highest penalty available and not tolerate any sort of vandalism or destruction of our beautiful monuments and memorials.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s position on vandals is particularly relevant now because he is accusing vandals, including a former Olympic canoeist, of causing the Reflecting Pool to turn algae green with peeling paint during his renovations. The president has provided no evidence to back up any of his claims, with Olympian David Hearn saying he merely touched a piece of the peeling paint that had already been dislodged. Trump also says vandals slashed a gash in the sealant as large as a football field, even though such an act would have been observed by onlookers.<\/p>\n

“Reflecting Pool story: Under Obama, responsible people carefully studied the problem, sought best solutions – and failed,\u201d posted conservative journalist David Frum on Sunday. \u201cUnder Trump, irresponsible people imposed a hasty solution that enriched inept cronies – and failed even more spectacularly.”<\/p>\n

A prominent former government official echoed Frum\u2019s sentiments.<\/p>\n

“Like most things Trump touches, the Reflecting Pool is now in worse shape than before,\u201d former US Attorney Barbara McQuade posted on X on Sunday. \u201cAdding cosmetic paint did not solve the underlying problem. And now he baselessly blames vandals for his failure.”<\/p>\n

Read more Why Nicolle Wallace says it\u2019s \u2018unfair\u2019 to compare Trump to the mob<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump has threatened a decade in jail for the people who supposedly vandalized Washington DC institutions like the Reflecting Pool \u2014 yet his own Justice Department\u2019s recent results poke a giant hole in that claim.\u201cOn Monday, one might have expected a stiff punishment when Washington…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nAnalysis of Trump DOJ results pours cold water on his pledge to jail DC 'vandals' - Next Address America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2066\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Analysis of Trump DOJ results pours cold water on his pledge to jail DC 'vandals' - 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