Protecting American Monuments, Memorials, and Statues and Combating Recent Criminal Violence

The order directs the Attorney General to make investigation and prosecution of monument destruction, riot incitement, and religious property damage a priority within the Justice Department, and to cooperate with state and local law enforcement on related cases. It sets a policy of withholding federal grant funding tied to public spaces from state and local governments that have failed to protect monuments, and withholding law enforcement support grants from agencies that have not enforced laws against vandalism. All executive agency and department heads are directed to review their grant programs and apply these withholding policies where lawful.

Separately, the order authorizes the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security and the Attorney General to provide personnel to protect federal monuments, memorials, statues, or property upon request from the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or the General Services Administrator. That personnel-deployment authority terminates six months from the signing date unless the President extends it. The order explicitly states it does not affect the Justice Department's prosecutorial discretion in individual cases.

State and local governments that have allowed monument vandalism risk losing federal grants for public spaces. State and local law enforcement agencies face potential loss of federal police-support funding. Individuals accused of vandalizing monuments, inciting riots, or damaging religious property face prioritized federal prosecution.

State and local governments could lose federal funding for parks and public spaces, and their police departments could lose federal law enforcement grants, creating financial pressure to protect monuments. Individuals involved in monument damage or riot incitement face an elevated risk of federal charges rather than only state-level prosecution.

The Attorney General acts first by reprioritizing Justice Department resources toward monument and riot cases and coordinating with state and local agencies. Separately, all agency heads must audit their own grant portfolios and apply the withholding policy where legally permissible — meaning the actual funding cuts depend on individual agency determinations, not automatic triggers. The military and law enforcement personnel-deployment authority runs for six months from signing (expiring around December 26, 2020) unless the President issues an extension order. The order contains no severability clause and explicitly preserves existing prosecutorial discretion.