CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – A small group of anonymous Charlottesville activists has recreated a protest statue of President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein and plans to display it in the city.

The statue depicts Trump and Epstein dancing hand in hand and is based on a protest piece that appeared on Washington D.C.’s National Mall in September.

The anonymous artist collective The Secret Handshake took credit for that D.C. statue, obtaining a permit from the National Park Service to display it.

“The messaging was to show the friendship between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein using the exact language that the President allegedly used in a card about their friendship himself,” The Secret Handshake told Cville Right Now in an email. “They’re holding hands because they are separate statues – on separate pedestals – but their friendship bonds them together.”
The original statue in D.C. / AP

That statue was “torn down and broken apart in the middle of the night,” The Secret Handshake said, after which time the group put the designs for the piece online.

Last week, the group displayed a new piece, depicting Trump and Epstein, the convicted sex offender, in a Titanic-inspired pose, with Trump holding Epstein’s outstretched arms.

Now, the Charlottesville activists have recreated the first statue, working over the past three months and expending about $500 on the project, according to one member, who requested to speak anonymously. They plan to unveil it this week at the Free Speech Wall on the Downtown Mall, and also display it at the local No Kings event on March 28.

It was built in pieces, 50 altogether, created with a 3D printer. While the original was made of bronze, the Charlottesville version is made of plastic and covered in a layer of fiberglass for protection.

The exterior was hand-painted by a group member who has a Master’s in sculpting from VCU, to give it a worn, bronzed look.

The statue stands about 9-feet tall and weighs a total of about 370 pounds, including its base. The Trump figure alone weighs about 70 pounds.

Between the figures is a sign with arrows pointing to either side that reads, “Good people on both sides.”

Final touches were being done on the piece the past two weeks in one member’s downtown art studio.

While a number of people across the country have downloaded the designs and built smaller versions of the original statue, the Charlottesville iteration is believed to be the biggest yet.

“We have seen a lot of people that have made smaller recreations,” The Secret Handshake said in its email. “But no one else that we’re aware of that has created it at scale.”
The Secret Handshake’s newest statue in D.C. / AP