Kentucky woman indicted in World War II Memorial vandalism

A Kentucky woman has been indicted on federal charges after authorities say she spray-painted the World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington earlier this month and documented her actions on social media.

A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted Melissa Farris, 41, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, on one count of destruction of a veterans’ memorial and one count of destruction of government property, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced Friday. Her next court hearing is scheduled for Sept. 3.

The charges stem from an Aug. 13 incident at the memorial’s Atlantic Theatre Pavilion. According to a criminal complaint, U.S. Park Police responded after receiving a report of a disorderly person, and a witness told authorities they had seen a woman spray-painting the memorial. A park ranger who arrived at the scene saw foam in the fountain and people watching a woman record herself before she fled, prosecutors said.

Authorities found the words “Clean Hands Dirty $” painted in orange on a wall, along with green paint on the wall and pink paint splattered on the ground. Investigators also recovered a painted sign from a nearby trash can.

A witness photographed the woman, and a Park Police officer identified her as Farris, who authorities said had been arrested three days earlier for unlawfully camping on federal property several blocks from the memorial. During that arrest, prosecutors said, Farris livestreamed the encounter on social media and identified herself as “Melissa Lovewell.”

Investigators later reviewed Farris’ public social media accounts and found livestreams from the incident in which she allegedly acknowledged damaging the memorial. In a video recorded before the vandalism, prosecutors say Farris said she intended to force a “whistleblower case” into court and was prepared to be arrested.

“We will use every tool available under federal law to ensure this conduct is met with justice,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a statement.

President Donald Trump linked the incident at the World War II Memorial to alleged vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, which he blamed on “radical left lunatics.”

“Our beautiful World War II Memorial was just hit by Spray Painting Vandals,” Trump said in a Truth Social post earlier this month. “First the Reflecting Pool, now this.”

On Aug. 6, a federal judge dismissed a felony vandalism charge against a former Olympian accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool, which recently underwent a costly renovation. The judge dropped the charge after federal prosecutors said the pool’s damage was caused by contractors’ botched renovation that resulted in “widespread damage “ to the pool’s blue lining.

The World War II Memorial honors the 16 million Americans who served during the war and the more than 405,000 people who died.

The post Kentucky woman indicted in World War II Memorial vandalism appeared first on MS NOW.

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