Kentucky Woman Faces Felony Charges for Vandalizing World War II Memorial

A Kentucky woman has been arrested and charged with two federal felonies after allegedly spray-painting graffiti on the World War II Memorial at Washington, D.C., and filling its fountain with soapy bubbles.Melissa Farris, 41, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, was charged Friday with willfully injuring or committing a depredation against property of the United States and destruction of a veterans’ memorial, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Each charge carries a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison.“Defacing the World War II Memorial is a disgusting act and an insult to the Americans who fought and died for our country,” United States Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a statement.“This memorial stands in honor of the 16 million veterans who served, the millions who supported the war effort, and the more than 400,000 heroes who never came home. Vandalizing a monument dedicated to their sacrifice is a shameful attack on the legacy of our nation. We will not tolerate this kind of criminal activism, and we will ensure that anyone who desecrates a veterans’ memorial is held fully accountable.”The incident occurred around 2 p.m. on Thursday, when United States Park Police received a report of a disorderly person at the memorial. A witness told officers they had observed a woman spray-painting graffiti on the Atlantic Theatre Pavilion. When a United States Park Ranger arrived, the ranger observed foam filling the fountain and a crowd gathered around a woman who was filming herself. The woman fled when she noticed the ranger’s presence.Officers observed orange, green, and pink spray paint on the pavilion walls, bearing the words “Clean Hands Dirty $.” Federal prosecutors said cleanup and restoration costs have already exceeded $1,000.Investigators identified Ms. Farris through a witness photo and recognized her as someone arrested just days earlier, on August 10, for unlawfully camping on federal property near the memorial. A review of her public social media accounts revealed multiple livestreamed videos from the day of the incident, including one in which she appeared to admit to the vandalism.“It was me. I’m doing it, I did it, it’s on camera,” Ms. Farris said in one video, according to prosecutors. Before defacing the memorial, she allegedly posted a video stating, “I am cognitively aware and executively of the choices I am making, and I am doing so to push my whistleblower case into the courtroom … I am accountable for the things that I do and the choices that I make, and our government needs to be accountable for their choices too.”On Friday morning, Ms. Farris turned herself in at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia. In an emotional Facebook Live video, she addressed the incident directly. “I’m just trying to do the right thing. I was just trying to get people to listen,” she said through tears. “I was just trying to scream loud enough that somebody would help me,” CBS News reported.President Trump also decried the incident, writing on Truth Social: “Our beautiful World War II Memorial was just hit by Spray Painting Vandals. THERE CAN BE NO GREATER INSULT TO THOSE AMERICAN HEROES WHO DIED IN WORLD WAR II.”

Kentucky Woman Faces Felony Charges for Vandalizing World War II Memorial

Kentucky Woman Faces Felony Charges for Vandalizing World War II Memorial

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