Ten Commandments monument destroyed
Arkansas statue was in place at the state Capitol for less than 24 hours before it was knocked down and smashed to pieces.
A LITTLE ROCK, ARK. — man yelled “Freedom!” as he crashed his vehicle into Arkansas’ new Ten Commandments monument early Wednesday, nearly three years after he was arrested in the destruction of a similar monument at Oklahoma’s state Capitol, authorities said.
The privately funded Arkansas monument had been in place outside the state Capitol in Little Rock for less than 24 hours before it was knocked from its plinth and smashed to pieces.
Michael Tate Reed, 32, of Van Buren, Ark., was booked in the Pulaski County jail on preliminary charges of defacing objects of public interest, criminal trespass and first-degree criminal mischief.
An arrest report listed his occupation as “unemployed/ disabled.”
Authorities did not know whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf. A video arraignment was set for this morning, a Pulaski County sheriff’s spokesman said.
Arkansas Secretary of State’s Office spokesman Chris Powell said officials believe a Facebook Live video depicting the destruction, posted on Reed’s account, is authentic.
In the video, the Arkansas Capitol’s dome is visible. Music is heard followed by a female voice, likely on the radio, saying, “Where do you go when you’re faced with adversity and trials and challenges?”
The driver is then heard growling, “Oh my goodness. Freedom!” before accelerating into the monument. The vehicle’s speedometer reaches 21 mph, then a collision is heard.
The monument fell and broke into multiple pieces.
Oklahoma County sheriff ’s spokesman Mark Opgrande said Reed was the same man arrested in October 2014 in the destruction of Oklahoma’s Ten Commandments monument.
In a 2015 email to the Tulsa World, Reed apologized for wrecking the monument and said he suffered from delusions and heard voices.
Arkansas’ granite monument weighed 6,000 pounds. It was installed Tuesday morning on the southwest lawn of the Capitol with little fanfare and no advance notice.
A 2015 law required the state to allow the display near the Capitol, and a state panel last month gave final approval to its design and location.
“Obviously, I’m very disappointed that someone would carry out an act of violence that’s actually against the people of Arkansas,” said Republican Sen. Jason Rapert, the state lawmaker who led the push for the monument.
Travis Story, the general counsel of the American History and Heritage Foundation, which raised money for the monument, said the group already has ordered a replacement but that it would take a couple of months.
Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who signed the legislation requiring the monument’s installation, wrote in a tweet that “resorting to property destruction is never the answer to a policy disagreement.”
The American Civil Liberties Union condemned the destruction of the monument, which it has called an unconstitutional endorsement of religion.