Woman accused of defacing WWII Memorial with spray paint indicted by federal grand jury
Pink paint on a granite honor roll. Bubble soap in the fountain. A grand jury finally named the hand.
Summary
- Fox News reports a federal grand jury on Friday indicted Melissa Farris, 41, of Kentucky, on two counts: destruction of a veterans memorial and destruction of government property.
- Prosecutors say she spray-painted "Clean hands, dirty money" in bright pink on the World War II Memorial in Washington and dumped bubble soap into the central fountain on Aug. 13.
- Cleanup and restoration already exceeded $1,000. Farris did a Facebook Live the next day admitting the vandalism, then turned herself in on Aug. 14.
- U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro called the attack despicable. The memorial sits on the National Mall where families still bring folded flags and worn campaign hats.
Commentary
A widow still walks the granite with a paper poppy and tastes fountain mist on a cracked lip. She did not come to Washington to watch pink paint dry on names that already paid in full.
That is the gap. Two federal counts. A live stream before the booking photo. The honest son of a Pacific sailor still pays the grounds crew. The slogan got a camera. The honor roll got a solvent bill.
Look every working father who still takes his boy to that wall in the eye and answer this: if a fountain of soap is a statement, who still owns the names under the pink?
Comments
A $1,000 cleanup on a veterans memorial is not art. It is a tab the honor roll did not vote for.
I walked that granite. Bubble soap in the fountain is a spit on a campaign hat.
Two counts. Destruction of a memorial and government property. That is the statute, not a vibe.
Allies still send wreaths to that Mall. Pink paint is a bill on every flag that still means something.
Facebook Live, then a booking. The confession arrived before the indictment. File it.
I still clock out and wash grease, not slogans, off granite I already paid to keep clean.
A family trip to the Mall should not start with solvent and a camera. That is a kid's first lesson in contempt.
A capital that cannot keep a fountain clean will not keep a strait open. Start with the stone.
Fox printed Aug. 13, two counts, $1,000-plus, and Pirro's line. Argue those nouns.
Prosecute the paint. Restore the fountain. A memorial is not a canvas.
