The Justice Department filed two felony charges against the woman accused of vandalizing the World War II Memorial in Washington, according to court records.
“Vandalizing our World War II Memorial is a despicable attack on a sacred monument honoring the Americans who fought and died for our freedom,” U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro said in a statement announcing the charges on social media. “Those Americans include my father and grandfather.”
On Thursday afternoon, part of the memorial on the National Mall was tagged with graffiti, and soapy bubbles overtook a fountain. Red graffiti spelled out “Clean hands dirty $” beneath the Atlantic Arch, and red and green paint was splattered on some of the granite stonework.
Pirro said the woman suspected of vandalizing the memorial, Melissa L. Farris, was in custody. Two felony charges — depredation against U.S. property and destruction of veterans’ memorials — were filed against her, according to court records. Both charges carry a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
Around 2 p.m. on Thursday, members of the U.S. Park Police and U.S. Park Rangers responded to a call about a disorderly person at the memorial, according to court records.
On her Facebook account, Farris live-streamed herself at the memorial. In the video, she alternated between narrating her actions and getting emotional about the state of her life and of the country. She said she has autism and ADHD but that she was not suffering from psychosis.
Farris also said that Thursday was her 41st birthday. Her current address is listed in Kentucky, according to public records.
Later, Farris filmed herself dropping an item into the fountain near the Atlantic Arch. “Oops,” she said. Then, she shook spray-paint cans and live-streamed herself adding graffiti to the granite.
“It was me. I’m doing it. I’m on camera,” she said.
She said she was willing to be arrested because she wanted her day in court. The court filing said that as a ranger approached her at the Atlantic Pavilion, she fled.
After spraying the graffiti, she said, “It’s time for a tea party, kids.”
“This is democracy sometimes, guys,” she said as the live stream showed the fountain filling with bubbles. “And I didn’t have to shoot somebody. I didn’t have to go to war. I didn’t have to make choices that harmed another human being.”
Shortly before 4 p.m., according to the court filing, Farris posted another video to Facebook, in which she said: “I was just allowed to deface Federal f—ing property, and nobody batted an eye, and that is very strange.”
The Interior Department condemned the incident Thursday as an “utter disgrace” that “will not be tolerated.”
The incident comes weeks after the White House blamed vandals for disturbing the nearby Reflecting Pool after President Donald Trump’s renovations quickly degraded, causing algae blooms and a peeling liner.
Pirro eventually dropped the vandalism charges against four people and blamed the damage on flawed installation.
In response, Trump said Pirro “folded like an umbrella.”
“I just think she was totally wrong,” Trump told reporters earlier this month, noting that National Park Service employees had told authorities they saw vandals in action. He described problems with the contractor as “a couple of little things.”
It’s unclear what material was used to create the bubbles in the fountain. Ryan Compton, owner of Domain Aquascapes in Northern Virginia, said adding standard bubbles to a fountain generally doesn’t cause system damage but is a “maintenance nightmare.” It requires draining, cleaning out, and rinsing the fountain and pump system.
“That’s going to be a lot of man hours and work involved,” he said.
Trump denounced the World War II Memorial vandalism in a Friday morning post on Truth Social.
“THERE CAN BE NO GREATER INSULT TO THOSE AMERICAN HEROES WHO DIED IN WORLD WAR II,” Trump wrote. “First the Reflecting Pool, now this. We are on their trail! Where do these animals come from???”
A preliminary estimate of the costs to clean and restore the memorial already exceeds $1,000, according to court records.
The Washington Post was unable to immediately reach a representative of Farris for comment. Her sister declined to comment.
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