The whole thing is hilarious. The artists asked permission from the park service, which was granted. Then, obviously, Trump’s people got mad, and Park Police and some various unmarked vehicles showed up and tipped it over (which broke in Trump’s head among some other damage) and removed it. The artist was irritated, because her permit specifically said that it was to be given security and not removed (And also she was supposed to get notice if it was going to be removed, showing some level of awareness of the realpolitik involved I think. She did not receive the promised notice.)

Anyway, she was given back the pieces of the statue, and repaired it, and now it’s back. Some of the same unmarked vehicles were hanging around when they put it back up, and lo and behold they put it back up, undeterred, showing a certain level of commendable courage and a good value system, I think.

They are never as strong as they want you to think they are. Everything they do depends on someone else’s cooperation, and cooperation is always a slippery thing for certain types of regimes to maintain.