A worker cleans a statue of former US president Andrew Jackson near the White House last week. Protesters failed to bring it down on Monday.Credit:AP
Police in riot gear are then seen moving in to drive the crowd back and form a protective ring around the statue,which was erected in 1852 on a white marble base and depicts Jackson astride a rearing horse.
CNN reported that Secret Service told members of the press corps to immediately leave the White House grounds,in a"highly unusual decision that did not immediately come with an explanation".
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Jackson,the seventh US president,was a former army general and a populist politician nicknamed"Old Hickory",whose political style has sometimes been compared with that of President Donald Trump.
Native American activists have long criticised Jackson,a Democrat,for signing during his 1829-37 presidency the Indian Removal Act,in which thousands of people were driven from their land by the government. Forced to march West in what was described as the"Trail of Tears",thousands of Native Americans died before reaching their intended destination.
Trump immediately weighed in claiming in a tweet that"numerous people"had been arrested for"the disgraceful vandalism". He added:"10 years in prison under the Veteran's Memorial Preservation Act. Beware!"