A judge on Monday ordered the release of the woman accused of vandalizing the World War II Memorial on Washington, D.C.’s National Mall.
Melissa Farris was arrested after appearing to livestream herself on Aug. 13 vandalizing the monument, sparking outcry from President Donald Trump and leading U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro to press charges against the woman. Pink and green graffiti was splattered in the area, “Clean hands Dirty $” was written in spray paint on the inside of the memorial’s Atlantic Theatre Pavilion, and the monument’s fountain was tampered with bubbly soap.
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This week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Farris must be released from prison, ahead of a preliminary hearing in the case set for Sept. 3. U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew J. Sharbaugh ordered Farris to stay away from the World War II memorial and out of Washington, D.C. His order also restricted her ability to travel outside the country, ordering her to surrender passports and submit to supervision through the Pretrial Services Agency for the Northern District of Ohio no later than Aug. 20. Farris is heading to Ohio to stay with her daughter, according to officials.
Pirro’s office swiftly urged a reconsideration of Monday’s order mandating pretrial release, arguing that the woman posed an “exceptionally high risk of flight” in an appeal to Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg.
Farris is from Elizabethtown, Kentucky. She appeared to be homeless and living in Washington, D.C., at the time of her arrest. Farris seemed to be rambling incoherently in live-streamed videos she apparently posted during the vandalism.
Farris allegedly confessed to the crime on the social media live streams, where she mentioned a “federal wiretap” and “golf carts with people shooting my house from the vacant property next door in Kentucky.” Farris also urged passersby to send her money through Cash App to a friend to buy “paint.”
Trump on Friday weighed in on the vandalism, saying “THERE CAN BE NO GREATER INSULT TO THOSE AMERICAN HEROES WHO DIED IN WORLD WAR II,” in a post to Truth Social.
“We are on their trail! Where do these animals come from???” he wrote.
In a court filing Monday, prosecutors urged the judge to reconsider Farris’ pretrial release.
“Defendant has no ties to the Washington, D.C. area and no stable support system to ensure that she will comply with any release conditions…there is no condition or combination of conditions that will reasonably assure Defendant’s appearance in court or compliance with conditions of release,” the filing read. “Defendant also has a history of criminal misconduct and non-compliance with court orders. Indeed, just days before her attack on the Memorial, she was cited for camping on Federal property. Rather than curb her behavior, her criminal activity on federal property escalated.”
Pirro’s office charged Farris with two felony counts for the Aug. 13 action: Depredation Against Property of the United States and Destruction of Veterans’ Memorials. If convicted, Farris could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Prosecutors say Farris turned herself in Friday at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia.
“I am going to make these choices today, and I will step foot into the courtroom, and I will wait to be arrested. … I am accountable for the things that I do, and the choices that I make, and our government needs to be accountable,” Farris said in a live-streamed video before vandalizing the memorial, according to prosecutors.
