A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted a Kentucky woman on vandalism charges after she appeared to livestream herself defacing Washington, D.C.’s World War II Memorial.
Melissa Farris seemed to be a homeless woman in a questionable state of mind earlier this month when she appeared to film herself spraying pink and green graffiti on the memorial, painting “Clean hands Dirty $” on the inside of its Atlantic Pavilion, and filling the monument’s fountain with bubbly soap.
Following her arrest and subsequent release from jail, a Washington jury this week indicted Farris on one count of destruction of a veterans’ memorial and one count of destruction of federal property. Each felony charge carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
Farris is set to be arraigned before U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden in Washington on Sept. 3.
Farris appeared to call herself a “homeless freedom fighter” and ramble incoherently in livestreamed videos she posted during the vandalism. After being accused of defacing the monument on Aug. 13, she turned herself in to authorities, according to prosecutors. She was subsequently released from jail before her trial, over the protest of prosecutors who worried she had “a history of criminal misconduct and non-compliance with court orders.”
Authorities say the Kentucky native caused more than $1,000 in damage. In an interview with the Washington Post published Thursday, Farris said she committed the act to spotlight alleged wrongdoing by a former union employer in Kentucky.
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“I made a big mess to get the nation’s attention,” she said.
“I can unite a nation quicker than anybody else, apparently, because it didn’t matter what political party they were,” she said. “They can still all hate me, and then I’m going to give them the truth.”