Ten Commandments monument smashed in Arkansas

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Arkansas police have arrested a man they say plowed into a newly installed Ten Commandments monument on the state Capitol grounds, smashing it into several pieces. Michael Tate Reed of Van Buren, Ark., is charged with defacing objects of public interest, criminal trespass, and first-degree criminal mischief. Reed appears to have streamed the monument’s destruction Tuesday night using Facebook Live. A man by the same name, from the same town, was accused of destroying another Ten Commandments monument at the Oklahoma Capitol three years ago. He was admitted to a state mental hospital but prosecutors never filed formal charges. Crews installed the privately funded, 6,000 pound Arkansas monument on Tuesday morning, with no notice and little fanfare. State lawmakers passed a bill in 2015 allowing the display, and a state panel approved its design and location last month. A spokesman for the secretary of state’s office said he didn’t know what would happen to the monument now.

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Leigh Jones

Leigh is features editor for WORLD. She is a World Journalism Institute graduate who spent six years as a newspaper reporter in Texas before joining WORLD News Group. Leigh also co-wrote Infinite Monster: Courage, Hope, and Resurrection in the Face of One of America's Largest Hurricanes. She resides with her husband and daughter in Houston, Texas.