A statue of President Donald Trump holding hands with late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which was unveiled Tuesday on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was removed early Wednesday by U.S. Park Police.
A plaque on the statue, titled “Best Friends Forever,” read: “In Honor of Friendship Month we celebrate the long-lasting bond between President Donald J. Trump and his ‘closest friend,’ Jeffrey Epstein.” Below the figures were two additional plaques that quoted the birthday message to Epstein on his 50th birthday, attributed to Trump, that was revealed by Democrats on the U.S. House Oversight Committee.
A member of the group behind the statue, which calls itself The Secret Handshake, told MSNBC that U.S. Park Police took down the statue around 5:30 a.m., despite a permit that allowed the statue to remain through Sunday evening. The group said it was told it would be given 24 hours’ notice to take down the statue if the administration decided to remove it.
“Instead, they showed up in the middle of the night without notice and physically toppled the statue, broke it, and took it away,” said the group, which operates as an anonymous collective because, according to one member, “who we are is just not important.”
A spokesperson for the Department of the Interior said in a statement to MSNBC that “the statue was removed because it was not compliant with the permit issued.”
The group said they submitted the permit request with the correct height, but the Parks Department listed the height without taking into account the size of the base.
“Our statue is about 10 feet 2 inches,” the group said. “The maximum height for a permit on that section of the mall is 45 feet. We are 34 feet 10 inches under the maximum requirements.”
The Secret Handshake said it does not know the current location of the statue.
“This is a literal example of the Trump administration toppling free speech when it has been legally permitted and approved because they are scared about whatever Trump is hiding in the Epstein files,” the group said.
In a statement to Time magazine, the White House said, “Liberals are free to waste their money however they see fit — but it’s not news that Epstein knew Donald Trump, because Donald Trump kicked Epstein out of his club for being a creep.”
