A woman has been taken into federal custody and charged with two felonies after the National World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was vandalized with red paint and a foaming substance.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced the charges hours after President Donald Trump condemned the vandalism on social media.
Suspect identified and charged
Pirro identified the suspect as Melissa L. Farris and said prosecutors were charging her in federal court with depredation against property of the United States and destruction of veterans’ memorials. Both offenses carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison.
Pirro’s office released photographs that allegedly show Farris spray-painting the memorial. It was not immediately clear whether Farris had an attorney, and authorities did not disclose where she was arrested or when she would next appear in court.
“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 said in a statement announcing the charges. “Those Americans include my father and grandfather.”
What happened, according to investigators
Interior Department officials said U.S. Park Police responded to the National Mall after the vandalism was reported.
According to authorities, red paint was poured across the walls and floor of the memorial’s Atlantic Pavilion. Some of the paint appeared to spell out a message: “Clean hands, dirty money.”
A foaming substance was also dumped into the memorial’s central fountain. Before police cordoned off the area, bystanders were seen batting around clouds of bubbles that had formed in the water.
Donald Trump’s reaction and the Lincoln Memorial comparison
Trump condemned the vandalism in a Truth Social post on Thursday, saying the memorial had been “hit by Spray Painting Vandals” and calling the incident an insult to Americans who died in World War II.
He linked the vandalism to previously reported damage at the nearby Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, writing, “First the Reflecting Pool, now this. … Where do these animals come from???”
The World War II Memorial incident comes weeks after Trump claimed the Reflecting Pool had been deliberately damaged — and similarly referred to those responsible as “animals.”
That case took a different turn. Pirro’s office announced it was dropping charges against several people accused of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool after its summer remodel when prosecutors determined the damage resulted from shoddy workmanship rather than vandalism.
Pirro, a longtime Trump ally and friend, has faced criticism from the president over her decision to drop those charges.
Interior Department and advocacy groups respond
The Department of the Interior condemned the vandalism.
“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 department said in a statement. “The vandalism that occurred is an utter disgrace and will not be tolerated.”
A department official said the memorial was not a backdrop for political statements, vandalism or “childish stunts,” emphasizing that such sites are sacred places of remembrance belonging to every American.
Friends of the National World War II Memorial, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the site, also condemned the incident. The group said that regardless of the motivation, defacing a memorial honoring the sacrifice of the World War II generation is unacceptable.
Crews worked overnight to power-wash the paint from the memorial’s surfaces.
Background on the National World War II Memorial
More than 16 million American service members served during World War II and more than 400,000 died during the conflict, according to the National WWII Museum.
The war lasted from 1939 to 1945, with the United States formally entering after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor.
The National World War II Memorial sits on the National Mall between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. Dedicated in 2004, it was designed by architect Friedrich St. Florian and features 56 granite pillars and two triumphal arches representing the Atlantic and Pacific theaters of the war.
