(This article is a work of fiction and one in a series of unexpected points of view found in the graphic novel The Last Amazon. Click HERE to learn more about the book. TO be clear We desperately do not want this to happen in real life!)

An archived op-ed by JACKSON STINE OCT. 9, 2021

The President of the United States, via Executive Order, demolished The Statue of Liberty and dumped her ravaged remains into the Hudson River to, “Make a statement to Antifa and the Violent Alt-Left about their continued removal of confederate monuments.”

Trump declares Antifa a Terrorist Organisation

Before the signing of the Executive Order, most news outlets assumed the president was attempting to make some kind of tone deaf point regarding monument removal. They argued that his actions were an uncouth means of showing the American people that any statue—confederate or otherwise—could be demolished legally, even the famed Statue of Liberty.

After signing the Executive Order, however, the president didn’t even bother having the statue dismantled before toppling it, stating, “I want the Violent Left to clearly see what their hypocrisy made me do. I want those Militant Liberals to see Lady Liberty’s body hit the water with a splash and sink into the darkness. They were the ones who did this!”

Demolishing the 450,000 pound (225 ton), 151 foot statue was no small feat. First, a gigantic ramp was built on Liberty Island with explosive charges set at her feet. Chains were then strung across “Lady Libertas” via helicopters, and pulled taught by a small flotilla of tugboats. Leaked official White House reports clearly state that the chains used were forged out of Chinese steel. The irony of it all is painful beyond words.

“Nobody knew taking down Lady Liberty could be so complicated,” the president said at his press conference on Liberty Island moments after the blast. “Let me tell you, it was unbelievably complex! But I did it, and even created jobs in the process! It took boats and chains! And those chains were American steel! But, I’ll tell you this, it was a lot easier than if Daisy O'Connell had been up there. That fat pig would never have come down! (Laughter.)”

After being asked why he would actually destroy The Statue of Liberty, the president said, “If you take down one historical American monument, why not another? Would you prefer I take down Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln? Who draws that line? Do violent Antifa and Alt-Left protesters get to decide what gets taken down? Is this only their country? No! This is a nation of laws!”

When a reporter asked the president if he destroyed the statue because he “Despised liberty, the very thing the Statue Of Liberty represented?” The president answered angrily, “Fake news! Sit down! I followed the rules! We have the best rules and I love the rules! I had this statue removed using, guess what, the rules! And you know what? It’s on an island, so there was no way for the Alt Left and Antifa to protest it—no way for them to stop me! If the globalist liberals don’t want to follow our rules, they can go to Canada like they have been threatening all these years. So dumb!”

Island or not, the American people still protested the destruction of Lady Liberty. While the president was giving his press conference on Liberty Island, riots broke out all across the Hudson bay. In fact, due to their severity, the press conference was ended prematurely and the president was evacuated by secret service via emergency helicopter. The President then hid inside his bunker, once again reinforcing his title as “Bunker Boy.” The American peoples' cries of outrage were answered by many other nations, especially France who had gifted the Statue of Liberty to America in 1885.

Although the Antifa protesters could not reach Liberty Island due to naval blockade, they laid waste to the banks of the Hudson. Rioting was most intense, however, on three American fronts: Liberty State Park, Jersey City; Battery Park, lower Manhattan; and the entire western shore of Brooklyn. Because Liberty State Park is relatively free of buildings, the damage there was minor compared to Brooklyn, which was set ablaze, and Manhattan, where destruction extended far past the New York Stock Exchange.

Riot Police and SWAT were quickly overwhelmed by protesters and counter protesters. After the first full 24 hours of rioting, the National Guard was called in to subdue the chaos with tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, and electric tasers. This had little effect and only seemed to anger the crowds and intensify the conflict. When ordered to escalate their force beyond compliance techniques, however, many National Guardsmen/women refused to brutalize their fellow American Citizens.

After 48 hours, the president ordered, for the first time in American history, the deployment of ARC Officers (Artificial Riot Control) armed with chest mounted LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Devices) and ADS (Active Denial Systems), and head mounted dazzler lasers weapons.

These super powered robotic foot soldiers were supported by self-driving, heavily armoured fighting vehicles loaded with turret mounted water cannons, pepper-spray projectile launchers, and larger scale LRAD and ADS platforms. They were also accompanied by air support with self-piloted armored police drones equipped with tear gas dispensers and additional dazzler lasers.

ARC units are based off AGI (Artificial Ground Infantry) units developed in 2019 in conjunction with DARPA and the US Military for non-human combat overseas. Unlike their military counterparts which have a full array of lethal weapons, the ARC models used in the Statue of Liberty riots were outfitted for domestic use. Therefore, they were only equipped with the bare minimum non-lethal ADS, LRAD, and dazzler weapons.

ADS (Active Denial Systems) are directed-energy weapons which causes the water in the upper epidermis to boil, stimulating a "burning" sensation in the nerve endings and generating intense pain. LRADs (Long Range Acoustic Devices) are high pitched sonic weapons capable of surpassing 160 dB, the threshold for eardrum rupture. Lastly, dazzlers are directed-energy weapons that use intense light to cause blindness or disorientation. These weapons were developed by the U.S. Military for overseas use and had not, until now, been sanctioned for domestic crowd control.

Despite the heavy presence of robotic enhanced law enforcement, the conflict lasted several more hours. Although the Alt Right counter protesters instantly dispersed once ARC Officers came on the scene, Antifa continued fighting the mechanised units with firearms, mokolo cocktail, and improvised explosive devices. These conventional weapons, however, seemed to have little to no effect on the ARC units and hardly slowed their forward march.

As Antifa retreated, they lit fires and left a wake of destruction in their path. Full damage reports are still being calculated, but it is estimated that there are thousands injured and many hundreds dead. The total economic cost is still unknown but estimated to be well over $50 billion.

After the riots were quelled, the White House was silent for days. When the president finally gave a press release, he made these opening comments.

“You damn dishonest press, this is all your fault! This is not about tyranny, it’s about showing Antifa and the Violent Alt-Left that they are lawless animals! Do you see the mass destruction they caused? Antifa nearly destroyed all of Manhattan, New Jersey, and Brooklyn! They killed hundreds of people! All my military advisers say that Antifa and these Militant Liberal groups are Terrorists! Horrible! Antifa, you are now, officially, a terrorist group! If you thought Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Taliban were bad hombres, Antifa is the worst and are now “numero uno” on America’s Most Wanted!”

When a reporter asked the president if his “advisers consider destroying The Statue of Liberty an act of terrorism,” the president exploded in anger, shouting, “You are fake news! Fake! News! You disgusting liberal press just don’t get it do you? You caused this! Get out!”

The only other question allowed was from a conservative news outlet who asked, “Mr. president, sir, do you have any other big plans for removing additional outdated American monuments?”

The president responded by saying, “Big plans? Me? I have huge plans! But more important than that, I want to say something directly to the Antifa Terrorists. And this is not a dare—it’s a statement. Test me again, Antifa, and see what happens! You will be stopped! Know this, in New York, my Military advisers forced me to use non-lethal, but Antifa, if you do anything like that again, I’m gonna bomb the shit out of you!” The crowd erupted in cheers as the president continued. “It’s true. I don’t care. I don’t care! They've got to be stopped!” With those final words, the president left the podium.

While the president’s motives are known only to him, many believe the removal of the Statue of Liberty was a ploy to incite mass violence so the president's Military advisers could officially vilify Antifa as Domestic and Foreign Terrorists, while simultaneously having an excuse to test the Military’s new mechanized ARC/AGI units in a domestic setting against actual American citizens.

Before I continue to speculate on the tragedy of this past week's events, and contemplate the full ramifications of American Military grade robots being used against Americans Citizens on American soil, I first need to cry myself to sleep. As my family and I do so, I will be reciting this quote which the president has now ensured lies in darkness at the bottom on the Hudson River:

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

American Liberty, although you now reside in darkness, may you at least, Rest In Peace.

_________

JACKSON STINE reported from Boulder, Colorado. This article was seen in print on October 9, 2021, three years before MADD (Mutually Assured Destruction Day).

Please SHARE this article so we can ensure this does not happen in real life! Truth be told, I do not believe our president would ever actually destroy The Statue of Liberty. Despite this, I do feel Antifa has a very high likelihood of being labeled a Terror Group, which I desperately hope does not happen. Although a work of Science Fiction, I feel this article, and The Last Amazon (the Graphic Novel in which the article is located) is a great reminder to us all, Liberal and Conservative, of the tumultuous time we live in and the potentially catastrophic consequences of our actions. -Jamison Stone, author and co-creator of The Last Amazon, October 9th, 2017.

This article is one in a series of unexpected points of view found in the graphic novel The Last Amazon. Click HERE to by the book today and then please share www.TheLastAmazon.com to help spread the word. Thank you!