Woman arrested and charged for vandalizing World War II Memorial in DC
By Kit Maher, Holmes Lybrand, Katelyn Polantz, CNN
(CNN) — A woman has been arrested and charged for vandalizing the World War II memorial in Washington, DC.
Melissa L. Farris made her first appearance on the felony charges in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, on Friday.
The Justice Department wants to keep Farris detained as she awaits trial. She will remain in jail at least until her detention hearing in DC next week.
“Vandalizing our World War II Memorial is a despicable attack on a sacred monument honoring the Americans who fought and died for our freedom. Those Americans include my father and grandfather,” US Attorney Jeanine Pirro posted online Friday earlier morning. The charges against Farris include destruction of US property and destruction of a veterans’ memorial.
In her post Friday, Pirro included pictures she says are of Farris spray painting the memorial. Farris faces up to 10 year in prison, Pirro said.
According to the indictment, US Park Police responded to a call of a “disorderly person disrupting visitors” around 2:00 p.m. on Thursday at the memorial. A witness said they saw the woman spraying graffiti and a ranger responded, seeing foam in the fountain and observing the suspect flee, it added.
Police received a photo from a witness of Farris allegedly spray painting the memorial, and one officer recognized Farris from arresting her days prior for unlawfully camping on federal property.
The indictment also says that Farris, who is from Kentucky, recorded a livestream video online in which she allegedly confessed “I was just allowed to deface Federal f**king property, and nobody batted an eye, and that is very strange.”
“Our government needs to be accountable for their choices too,” Farris added in the livestream, the indictment said.
A preliminary estimate of the total costs to clean and restore the World War II memorial due to the vandalism is more than $1,000, according to the indictment.
A public defender representing Farris said in court on Friday she plans to challenge the DOJ effort to keep her in custody.
Farris, who was wearing a t-shirt that said “Loose Lips,” with a picture of a ship on her back, didn’t speak aside from whispering and nodding with her attorney.
Pirro, a longtime ally and friend of the president, was criticized by Trump earlier this month when her office announced they would be dropping charges against several people for allegedly vandalizing the Reflecting Pool after its botched remodel this summer.
Prosecutors dropped the charges after learning that damage done to the pool was caused by shoddy workmanship, not vandalism. Trump, however, accused Pirro of folding “like an umbrella.”
Graffiti and soap bubbles
On the inner side of the fountain, graffiti written in neon orange stated: “Clean hands Dirty $,” according to a photo first posted by freelance photographer Andrew Leyden and later captured by CNN on Thursday. Pink and green graffiti also littered the pavilion. The large whips of foam in the water appeared to be a result of someone pouring soap into the fountain.
The area was blocked off by law enforcement Thursday afternoon. CNN observed National Park Service personnel cleaning the graffiti off the monument, and both the paint and the bubbles were gone Friday morning.
President Donald Trump on Friday posted on social media that the administration was on the “trail” of the still-unnamed suspects. He called the vandals “animals,” and the Interior Department in a statement to CNN called the situation “an utter disgrace.”
“The World War II Memorial is a sacred place to honor the service of our members of the Armed Forces and the over 400,000 Americans who gave the ultimate sacrifice in WWII. The vandalism that occurred is an utter disgrace and will not be tolerated,” the department said.
It’s the latest trouble for Washington’s National Mall. Renovations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool pushed by Trump resulted in peeling paint and a huge algae bloom earlier in the summer, and the pool remains drained for repairs. And the numbers “86 47” — a phrase generally used to signal opposition to Trump — appeared etched into the grass near the Washington Monument in June.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) said in a statement that it expects “accountability for this disgraceful act and a swift response to restore the memorial.” It called both the soap bubbles and the graffiti acts of “profound disrespect.”
“We eagerly await the National Park Service’s plan for repairing the damage and ensuring the National World War II Memorial remains a fitting and enduring tribute to America’s Greatest Generation,” the veterans organization said.
Scott Wimpfheimer, whose family was visiting DC on Thursday from Minnesota and Alabama, told CNN affiliate WJLA that it angered him to see the monument vandalized, and he hopes the culprit is held accountable. He said he has a son and daughter who both served in Iraq.
“It is a World War II monument. It’s to all the people who died and fought and sacrificed for our country,” he said, adding, “Our kids and our parents put our lives on the line for our country. I just don’t understand.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Jeanine Pirro is the US Attorney in DC.
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