LITTLE ROCK - Twenty-four hours after Arkansas state Senator Jason Rapert unveiled a monument with the Ten Commandments on the State Capitol lawn, a Van Buren man stands accused of destroying it with his vehicle.
32-year-old Michael Tate Reed of Van Buren is charged with Criminal Trespass, Defacing Objects of Public Interest, and Criminal Mischief after he ran into the monument with his 2016 Dodge Dart early Wednesday morning. The entire ordeal was captured as Reed broadcast the event on Facebook Live.
The Arkansas Secretary of State’s office told Little Rock media outlets that Reed was cooperative upon his arrest by Capitol Police. Spokesperson Danielle Fusco said an officer noticed Reed entering the grounds from the south, then doing a u-turn after passing the monument. After being taken into custody, Reed was taken to Saint Vincent’s Medical Center for evaluation before being booked into the Pulaski County Jail.
This is not Reed’s first time to destroy a monument of this nature, as he was arrested by the United States Secret Service after destroying the Ten Commandments monument erected on the Oklahoma State Capitol lawn in October 2014.
In Tuesday’s ceremony, Rapert credited a number of officials including Arkansas Secretary of State Mark Martin in helping him and his foundation accomplish getting the monument placed on the Arkansas Capitol lawn. “It was my honor to have been a part of this project and I look forward to helping many more states, counties, cities and towns to install their own Ten Commandments or In God We Trust monuments around our state and the nation.” Rapert said via his Facebook page. “We should restore the honor our country once had for American history and heritage.”
Shortly after the installation, the American Civil Liberties Union announced that they would file a lawsuit challenging the placement of the monument.
Some lawmakers are already touting an effort to rebuild the monument in a short order. “We will rebuild.” state Senator Trent Garner (R-El Dorado) posted on social media. “In fact, we should build the monument bigger and higher to show that will not be intimidated.”
According to the timestamp on the Facebook Live video, the incident apparently took place shortly before 5:00 AM Wednesday morning. Reed also set up a GoFundMe account to replace his car shortly before the incident, however, the campaign had been deactivated by 10:00 AM on Tuesday.
