[ZANESVILLE, Ohio] A group of crypto coin traders and entrepreneurs combined for "The Patriot Project," which hired the artist and sculptor, who won the commission for the Thomas Edison statue, representing Ohio in the Capitol, to create an 18-foot bronze of President Donald J. Trump capturing the moment Trump chanted: “Fight! Fight! Fight!” immediately after the failed July 13, 2024, assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. 

“The Patriot Project and statue is a way for the crypto community to honor the 'Crypto President' and commemorate the most iconic moment of courage in history," said Dustin Stockton, a crypto community member. 

Stockton said the Patriot Project intends to bring the statue to Washington for the inauguration, then around the country, before erecting it on a pedestal in Butler as a permanent commemoration. 

“The statue had to be Trumpian; it had to be larger than life and over the top,” he said. "It’s been one hell of a ride the last decade; the Patriot Project statue and tour is our way of claiming how these incredible times are remembered by history.”

The bronze statue cost roughly $800,000, and the project organizers expect to raise the money necessary to transport it to Washington, where it would be staged for the public during Trump’s second inauguration celebrations.

The organizers also hope to find a permanent home for the statue, perhaps in Butler, where it would be an iconic draw for Trump supporters and pilgrims.

Alan Cottrill’s Trump is standing alone without the Secret Service agents clamoring around him as human shields. His arm is raised with a fist, and his neck and face are straining to present the brave face to the thousands of supporters at his rally and the millions watching on live TV.

Trump backs cryptocurrency coming out of the shadows

Trump's support of the crypto economy or crypto movement is more than just his accepting crypto donations to his campaign.

In July, the president spoke at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, and there he acknowledged its incredible growth. 

"I think you’re just in your infancy. I can see it happening. In just 15 years, Bitcoin has gone from merely an idea posted anonymously on an internet message board to being the ninth most valuable asset anywhere in the world. Can you believe that? Isn’t that great? That’s a big deal. Think of that.It’s already bigger than Exxon Mobil. Soon it will be surpassing the entire market cap of silver. Not bad."

Later in his remarks, Trump said he would be a Crypto President and make America the center of the world's crypto economy.

"If crypto is going to define the future, I want to be mined, minted, and made in the USA it’s going to be. It’s not going to be made anywhere else. And if Bitcoin is going to the moon, as we say, it’s going to the moon, I want America to be the nation that leads the way and that’s what’s going to happen.

"So you’re going to be very happy with me. You’re going to be so happy. You’re going to say he’s the greatest guy. That’s why I’m proud to be the first major party nominee in American history to accept donations in Bitcoin and crypto. And they’ve made a lot of them, I might tell you. And I appreciate it."

Perhaps his most significant promise to the crypto conference participants was to signal that he would fire the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, appointed by President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who has been a constant foe of crypto's emergence.

"We’re going to fire Gary Gensler and appoint a new SEC chairman. I didn’t know he was that unpopular. Well, I didn’t know he was that unpopular....

"Let me say it again. On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler. I will appoint a new SEC chairman who believes America should build the future, not block the future, which is what they’re doing."

Thursday, Gensler saved Trump the bother, and he X-posted his resignation.

It was an act that also earned him a taunt from X's CEO, Elon Musk.

Is it true that the SEC only works one day a month in the office?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 21, 2024

Brick Suit: Trump statue speaks to the need Americans feel to show their appreciation

Social media personality Brick Suit, who was in the front row when Trump was shot, told RedState he is still processing the events in July, so seeing the Trump statue does not compare to the emotions and memories he had being there.

“It is very impressive—especially the scale,” he said.

“I can understand that people who were not there want to have that connection to the president,” he said.

“Whether or not the statue ends up in Butler, it is undeniable that Butler will become a symbol of President Trump's fights for us,” he said.

“It means something that this was done by people not connected to Trump or his campaign,” Brick Suit said. 

“People just feel like they have to do something to support this man—like no one else—if you have a boat, have a boat parade. If you have a car, have a motorcade parade,” he said. “It is like we owe him something for everything he did for us.”

Check out my interview with Brick Suit about his witness of the Trump shooting conducted less than an hour after the shooting: "Exclusive: Brick Suit Gives Front Row Account of Trump Shooting."

Cottrill: Clay is my mistress

Cottrill, an Army veteran, studied at Ohio University and the National Academy of Design, among other schools that included a cadaver course at Columbia Medical School, and is one of the leading practitioners of monumental art in America.

The former truck driver and founder of a chain of fast-food restaurants sold his business interests in 1990 when he first tried molding clay into shape. He explained: “This is the mistress I’ve traveled the world in search of.”

Among his other commissions are monumental works commemorating Ohio State Buckeyes Head Coach Woody Hayes, “The Quecreek Mine Rescue Memorial - Monument for Life Coal Miners Memorial” in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and the squad of nine Soldiers forming the Global War on Terrorism Memorial at the National Infantry Museum in Columbus, Georgia.

Cottrill told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer how he approached sculpturing the nine Soldiers, led by the larger-than-life likeness of Medal of Honor recipient Spc. Ross A. McGinnis, an infantryman, who jumped on a grenade thrown into his Humvee in Iraq.

“I tried to imbue these nine soldiers that I depicted with a certain degree of gravitas, that it was just a powerful image,” he said.

“The guys, they're tough, young, strong,” he said. 

“You got to have a little bit of fear, or you're going to make some big mistakes, so I tried to show a little bit of that. I tried to show their dedication to the mission,” the son of a milkman said.

“I didn't just want a bunch of generic facial gestures. I wanted to try to really depict what it would be like.”