Once-beloved home-tinkerer magazine Popular Mechanics has weighed in on the recent craze of riotous property destruction sweeping the United States, offering a how-to guide not for protecting old statues, but for … destroying them.
An article published on June 15 by the magazine describes how historic monuments can be destroyed “using science.” and how to “bring that sucker down without anyone getting hurt.”
“Should you happen to find yourself near a statue that you decide you no longer like, we asked scientists for the best, safest ways to bring it to the ground without anyone getting hurt — except, of course, for the inanimate racist who’s been dead for a century anyway,” the article says, in a courageous stand against history, nonviolence and any semblance of respect for the past or other people’s property.
Leftist protesters have been tearing down statues in a nationwide outburst of rage fueled by the death of a black man in police custody in Minneapolis, Minn., a sympathetic media and general fury toward President Donald Trump and those who voted for him.
Officials in some cities have hastily moved to take down the statues, while others have put up barriers to protect them.
Popular Mechanics, in circulation since 1902, offers its guide to vandalism as two options. For a physical approach, mechanical engineer Scott Holland is quoted giving specific instructions on how to bring a statue down. San Diego State University chemical professor Chris Harrison provided the chemical approach, saying that the melting point of bronze is 1,742 degrees Fahrenheit and that thermite would do the job.
