I don't think anyone should be tearing them down and destroying them, and I'm sure the majority of BLM protesters and democrats would agree with me on that.
The reason I think it's so partisan is because of the effort going into convincing people that the looters and statue destroyers represent the millions of people (around the world) that are protesting, which is just not true. There's a difference between thinking the statues should be removed, and supporting defacing or destroying them - I think a lot of people right now, and in this thread, compound the two.
I mentioned before that removing statues isn't really an issue if it's democratically decided and voted on. I get the argument that you don't want a statue of a ruthless slave owner and confederate on your doorstep but it's gone from that to targeting statues of abolitionists and then a statue of George Washington. This is the slippery slope you go down because the reality is, any historical figure does not have a clean history.
I won't make the argument that everyone tearing down statues represents all the millions of protesters because it just isn't true. I haven't seen many others make that argument either but I also haven't looked hard enough. Regardless, it's a disingenuous point to lump in these mobs and protesters. But we know why this is becoming a partisan issue and it's because Trump chose to give a stance on it therefore people feel the need to do a 180 on his position to spite him.
We've already seen this happen with the whole CHOP/CHAZ fiasco where the Mayor of Seattle, Jenny Durkan, tweeted at Trump a few weeks ago defending CHOP claiming that he shouldn't be so afraid of democracy. This was in response to Trump's threat to bring in the national guard to Seattle after its leadership failed to enforce the law.
Fast forward 3 weeks later and there's now been two killings of unarmed black people (the irony) as the CHOP vigilantes seemingly shoot indiscriminately at anyone that poses even the slightest threat. Real democracy, according to Jenny Durkan.
Again, fair points and I agree with most parts with respective to confederate statues. But like I said, people have targeted abolitionists and George Washington.