Activist sentenced to jail for spray-painting Custer statue

MONROE, Mich (FOX 2) - Nearly two years after anti-colonial activist Peatmoss Ellis defaced a state of Gen. George Custer in Monroe. She was sentenced to 30 days in jail for the crime. 

Ellis spray-painted a "message of resistance" on Custer’s statue on Indigenous Peoples' Day in 2022.

First District Court Judge Amanda L. Eicher proceeded over the case. 
"This heavy-handed sentence is a politically-motivated decision and the worst-case scenario for a misdemeanor," said local climate activist John R. Sullivan. "The purpose of this decision is to uphold the legacy of genocide and white supremacy. The county wants to deter us from fighting back against the state's past and ongoing crimes against indigenous and other racialized and oppressed people. The people's response should therefore be the opposite of deterrence."

The 30-day sentence was imposed on March 20.