A rural Georgia monument known as the Georgia Guidestones has been torn down after an explosive device damaged it on Wednesday.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation posted surveillance footage to Twitter showing an explosion going off at the scene just after 4 am. A Silver Sedan is also shown driving away from the scene following the blast.
(2/3) The videos show the explosion and a car leaving the scene shortly after the explosion. No one was injured. pic.twitter.com/8YNmEML9fW
— GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) July 6, 2022
The agency added that the structure was later demolished for “safety reasons.”
According to ChurchLeaders.com, the Georgia Guidestones were built in 1980 from local granite and were commissioned by an unidentified person or group under the name R.C. Christian. Years later, the monument was met with a polarized response, with some people referring to it as “America’s Stonehenge” and others, particularly some groups of Conservative Christians, condemned it as “satanic” due to its messages on eugenics, population control and globalism.
“That’s given the Guidestones a sort of shroud of mystery around them, because the identity and intent of the individuals who commissioned them is unknown,” Katie McCarthy, who researches conspiracy theories for the Anti-Defamation League, said. “And so that has helped over the years to fuel a lot of speculation and conspiracy theories about the Guidestones’ true intent.”
The panels, which were about 16 feet or five meters tall, contained inscriptions in eight different languages of 10 messages or principles “for an age of reason.” One inscription called for keeping the world’s population under 500,000,000 people in order to maintain a “perpetual balance with nature.”
The structure also served as a sundial and astronomical calendar.
According to Elbert Granite Association Executive Vice President Chris Kubas, the Georgia Guidestones first received public attention with the rise of the internet. They later became a roadside attraction, with thousands visiting them each year.
Renewed attention for the stones came during Georgia’s May 24 gubernatorial primary when third-place Republican candidate Kandiss Taylor called the stones “satanic” and said she would work to have them demolished as part of her platform.
“God is God all by Himself. He can do ANYTHING He wants to do. That includes striking down Satanic Guidestones,” Taylor tweeted on Wednesday following the incident.
God is God all by Himself. He can do ANYTHING He wants to do. That includes striking down Satanic Guidestones.
— Kandiss Taylor (@KandissTaylor) July 6, 2022
According to McCarthy, the monument was previously vandalized, including being spray-painted twice in 2008 and 2014.
“We’ve seen this with QAnon and multiple other conspiracy theories, that these ideas can lead somebody to try to take action in furtherance of these beliefs,” she explained. “They can attempt to try and target the people and institutions that are at the center of these false beliefs.”
As reported by 11 Alive, one person, who remains to be identified, is caught on video running to set the explosive device on the monument before running back to their car and driving away.
The Albert County district attorney is seeking to prosecute the person responsible for blowing up the Georgia Guidestones.
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Jon Thompson
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
