Woman charged in vandalism at World War II memorial

A woman was arrested and charged with two felony counts Friday in connection to the vandalism of the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.

“This morning, we are filing two felony charges, Depredation Against Property of the United States and Destruction of Veterans’ Memorials, in Federal District Court against Melissa L. Farris, offenses that carry penalties of up to ten years in prison,” Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, wrote Friday in a post on X. “She is now in custody.”

U.S. Park Police were investigating an incident of vandalism on part of the World War II Memorial that occurred Thursday. The phrase “Clean hands dirty $” was graffitied in bright red ink under the memorial’s arch, bubbles were poured into the fountain, and red and green paint was splashed across the dark gray granite.

Pirro shared photos on X of a woman she alleged to be the vandal, holding what appeared to be a can of spray paint and standing in front of the graffiti.

“Vandalizing our World War II Memorial is a despicable attack on a sacred monument honoring the Americans who fought and died for our freedom,” Pirro wrote. “Those Americans include my father and grandfather.”

Pirro has come under fire in recent weeks from President Donald Trump for her decision to drop federal charges against a former Olympian and others accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. 

The Justice Department indicted former Olympic canoeist David Hearn in July, charging him with one felony count of destruction of property after the president repeatedly said, without evidence, that the costly renovation of the landmark had faced major setbacks because politically motivated actors were vandalizing the project. 

The DOJ moved to drop the felony charges against Hearn on July 31. Pirro filed the motion to dismiss after prosecutors obtained information that showed the damage was caused by “botched work” performed by the project’s contractor, not by criminal conduct.

Trump said Pirro “choked” in her handling of the case, but has said he hasn’t “made a determination” about whether he will fire her.

The post Woman charged in vandalism at World War II memorial appeared first on MS NOW.

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