Michael Tate Reed II, 32, of Van Buren, filmed himself shouting "Freedom!" as he plowed into structure at around 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday, before posting the video to Facebook.
Reed also destroyed a Ten Commandments statue in Oklahoma, and in 2014 was charged with destruction of state property or improvements, operating a vehicle with a revoked license, reckless driving, making threatening statements and indecent exposure.
Reed sent an email to the Tulsa World in 2015 apologizing for his actions and explaining that his behavior was the result of a mental break that began when he began hearing voices in 2013 while attending Tulsa’s Victory Bible College.
Mental health technicians said Tate showed symptoms of schizoaffective disorder, but it was financially difficult to maintain treatment because of medication costs, even with health care benefits.
Cpl. Chad Durham, who was on the scene, wrote in the arrest report that he saw a dark vehicle "start from a stopped position and ram the Ten Commandments monument."
"I immediately exited my vehicle and placed the subject in custody," the report stated.
After being taken to a local hospital, Reed was booked Pulaski County Detention Center, where he is currently being held on first degree criminal mischief and criminal trespassing charge along with a charge of defacing an object of public interest.
The Ten Commandments statue was built after years of heated debate over whether a privately funded religious structure should be built on state grounds, with the American Civil Liberties Union even threatening to sue to prevent the construction.
After the monument was approved in May, ACLU Legal Director Holly Dickson told US News and World Report, "If they put [the statue] up, they're going to signal to people who don't subscribe to that particular version of the commandments and non-believers they are second-class citizens and we will file suit."
The law to build the statue was introduced in 2015 by Sen. Jason Rapert (R-Bigelow), who called Reed’s behavior "an act of violence."
He said that a new statue has already been ordered, and he criticized groups like the ACLU that want to have the structure taken down, saying they "stir and foment hatred and violence that will get unstable people to do what's been done here today," according to Arkansas Online.
Rapert added, "You can't light a fuse and walk away and say you're not responsible for the explosion."
