The woman who was arrested last week for allegedly vandalizing the World War II Memorial has been released from jail in Alexandria, Virginia.
The memorial was found defaced by spray-paint, with bubbles overflowing from a fountain Thursday afternoon.
Melissa L. Farris, of Kentucky, turned herself in the following morning at the U.S. District Courthouse in Alexandria. Authorities say Farris livestreamed herself as she spray-painted the memorial on the National Mall.
On Monday, a federal judge in D.C. granted her release on personal recognizance, over the objections of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, who argued she would be a flight risk if released.
The judge ordered Farris to submit a DNA sample before her release.
Farris is due to appear in court Sept. 3 and cannot break the law while she’s out.
In a brief statement Friday morning, U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro announced that her office was filing two felony charges against Farris: “depredation against property of the United States and destruction of veterans’ memorials.”
The offenses carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison.
“Vandalizing our World War II Memorial is a despicable attack on a sacred monument honoring the Americans who fought and died for our freedom. Those Americans include my father and grandfather,” she said.
Images shared by Pirro on X show a woman wearing sunglasses looking at a camera head-on, and a woman standing near spray painted words on the memorial.
According to the complaint filed in federal court, the photo seen above on the right was captured by someone who witnessed the vandalism. A U.S. Park Police officer recognized Farris as the woman in the photos because he had arrested her days earlier for illegally camping a few blocks from the memorial, the court documents said.
U.S. Park Police then discovered Farris had posted livestreams of herself spray-painting the memorial on her Facebook page.
“Our veterans fought for our freedom and if putting paint to get attention on a fountain is more detrimental than stealing $15 billion from the American people starting with health and welfare from union employees, then I accept that consequence,” the woman, whom authorities say is Farris, says in one of the videos. “Clean hands, dirty money.”
A man who told News4 that Farris is his cousin said family members were extremely concerned when they saw her Facebook posts tracking her travel to D.C. He said they had observed a sharp decline in her mental health.
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