According to a report by the Associated Press on the 14th, the WWII memorial area located in National Mall in Washington, D.C., was vandalized with spray paint on the 13th. U.S. President Donald Trump condemned this act of vandalism harshly on Friday, using profanity to refer to the vandalizers as “brutes”.
"Our beautiful WWII memorial has just been vandalized with paint," Trump wrote on his social media platform "Truth Social," “This is a complete insult to the American heroes who sacrificed their lives in World War II... We're looking into this! Where did these barbarians come from?!”
According to reports, the U.S. World War II Memorial is located on the east side of the Reflecting Pool at the Lincoln Memorial. Images show that the area around the monument was painted pink and green, and there were words written there that read “Clean hands, dirty money”. The fountain also had bubbles in it. The U.S. Department of the Interior stated in a statement that this act of vandalism is “a grave disgrace and will not be tolerated”.
The American Association of Foreign War Veterans also stated that this act of destruction is an “extremely disrespectful gesture, a public humiliation of veterans who served and dedicated themselves, as well as the families of soldiers who are suffering at home.”
According to CBS reports, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington confirmed on the 14th that Melissa Farris, a 41-year-old woman from Kentucky, has been arrested. She is charged with two felony crimes: vandalism of American property and destruction of a veterans' monument. She could face up to 10 years in prison.
Prosecutor Janina Piro said on social media: "Destruction of our WWII monument is a despicable attack on this sacred monument built to commemorate those Americans who fought for freedom."
According to a video from social media, quoted by Piro's office, Faris not only posted videos admitting to the vandalism, but also stated during the live broadcast at the scene that she 'fully understood the choices she was making', and referred to herself as a whistleblower.
In the video, Faris admits, “It’s me who did it. I was doing it, and the camera caught it.” The footage shows her waiting for several minutes without being detained by the police, and finally she left the scene after throwing the paint bucket on the ground.
On Friday morning, before turning himself in at the federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, Farris released several more videos. Tears streaming down her face, she said that she “had never experienced anything like this,” and added, "I just wanted to do the right thing, I just wanted people to hear my voice, to shout loudly enough so that someone would come and help me.”
