The initiative and courage of the National Italian American Foundation should be recognized today, as the organization wasted no time in condemning the disgraceful vandalism of the Christopher Columbus Memorial Fountain near Union Station in Washington, D.C.

The Hamas-supporting agitators who have been terrorizing the country in recent months struck again this week. These disgraceful hooligans regularly abuse and miscite the country’s First Amendment to engage in acts of intimidation, violence, and destruction. They are criminal miscreants who take advantage of the country’s liberties and thrive in its indulgence. Defacing the Columbus statue was not an exercise of speech, but of vandalism, which is rightly illegal.