Woman faces felony charges for WWII memorial vandalism

Federal prosecutors filed felony charges on Friday against a 41-year-old woman accused of defacing the World War II Memorial on the National Mall on Thursday, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro. Kentucky resident Melissa Farris faced a charge of willfully injuring federal property, and a second charge for destruction of a Veterans’ Memorial, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.

Pirro characterized Farris’ alleged vandalism as disgusting and insulting to Americans who died in service. That memorial honored the lives of 16 million veterans who served in WWII, specifically the more than 400,000 heroes who never came home, she said.

What kind of vandalism is Farris accused of? U.S. Park Police responded to the monument after receiving reports of a woman spray-painting graffiti on the memorial’s Atlantic Theatre Pavilion. Park rangers observed foam in the fountain in front of the pavilion, along with the message “Clean Hands Dirty $” in orange spray paint inside the pavilion, according to prosecutors. Officers also noted green paint sprayed across the wall and pink paint splattered on the ground.

How was Farris identified? One bystander took a photo of a woman resembling Farris carrying out the vandalism before the suspect fled the scene upon officers’ arrival. The photo appeared to show the suspect recording herself during the vandalism, with a smartphone propped up on the wall being defaced. One of the responding officers recognized the woman in the picture as someone Park Police arrested on Monday for illegal camping.

Investigators reviewed Farris' social media accounts and found she recorded several livestreamed videos on the day of the vandalism, including one where she allegedly admitted to damaging the memorial. Farris stated that she was cognitively aware of the choices she planned to make, according to the video’s transcript. She theorized that the unspecified choices she planned to make would help a whistleblower lawsuit she was involved in to progress in court, according to her comments in the video. The actions Farris planned to take would land her in a courtroom where she would be held accountable, and the government needed to be held accountable too, she said.

Pirro characterized the vandalism as a shameful attack on America’s legacy. This kind of criminal activism will not be tolerated, and those responsible will indeed be held accountable, she said. Federal prosecutors noted that charges are merely allegations against an individual, who is deemed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

The Friday filing marked Pirro’s second case in just over a month against individuals accused of vandalizing monuments on the National Mall. Federal prosecutors charged former Olympic canoeist David Hearn early last month for allegedly ripping out a piece of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool’s newly installed sealant.