Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., a retired Air Force brigadier general, said the woman charged with vandalizing the World War II Memorial in Washington should face significant prison time. Bacon’s post on X responded to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s announcement of felony charges against the suspect.
Bacon: “Deserves Quality Time Behind Bars”
“Anyone vandalizing our memorials deserves quality time behind bars,” Bacon wrote.
Pirro Cited Her Own Family’s WWII Service in Announcing Charges
Pirro had announced the charges hours earlier on X, writing that “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.” Pirro said her office was “filing two felony charges, Depredation Against Property of the United States and Destruction of Veterans’ Memorials, in Federal District Court against Melissa L. Farris, offenses that carry penalties of up to ten years in prison,” and that Farris was “now in custody.”
DOJ Says Suspect Livestreamed Herself at the Scene
According to a criminal complaint detailed in an official press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, Farris, 41, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, spray-painted the words “Clean Hands Dirty $” on the memorial’s Atlantic Theatre Pavilion on Aug. 13 while filming herself, and fled when a U.S. Park Ranger arrived. Investigators later found videos on her social media accounts in which she allegedly admitted to the vandalism.
Suspect Cited “Whistleblower Case” in Video Before Vandalism
In a video posted before the incident, Farris said she was making the choice to vandalize the memorial “to push my whistleblower case into the courtroom,” adding, “someone has to make choices that are different and I am accountable for my actions,” according to the complaint. The complaint does not elaborate on the nature of the whistleblower case she referenced.
Bacon Is One of Congress’s Most Decorated Military Veterans
Bacon served nearly 30 years in the Air Force before retiring as a brigadier general in 2014, commanding wings at Ramstein Air Base in Germany and Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska and deploying four times to the Middle East, including a tour in Iraq in 2007 and 2008. He now serves on the House Armed Services Committee, where he chairs the Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation Subcommittee and leads a panel focused on quality-of-life issues for junior enlisted service members.
Charges Carry Up to 10 Years in Prison
The two federal charges against Farris — willfully injuring or committing a depredation against property of the United States, and destruction of a veterans’ memorial — each carry potential penalties of up to 10 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. As with any criminal complaint, the charges are allegations, and Farris is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
Memorial Honors 16 Million WWII Veterans
The World War II Memorial on the National Mall honors the 16 million American service members who served during the war, the millions who supported the war effort from the home front, and the more than 400,000 Americans killed during the conflict, according to the Justice Department’s release. The memorial draws more than four million visitors annually.
Suspect Had Been Arrested Days Earlier for Unlawful Camping
A Park Police officer recognized Farris at the memorial from an Aug. 10 arrest for unlawfully camping on federal property a few blocks away, near 18th Street NW and Virginia Avenue NW, according to the complaint. She had livestreamed that earlier arrest on social media as well, under the name “Melissa Lovewell.”
Bacon Has Focused on Veterans and Service Member Quality of Life
As chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s Quality of Life Panel, Bacon has pushed for improvements to junior enlisted pay and housing, an area of focus that intersects with his broader advocacy for veterans and active-duty personnel, including his response Friday to the memorial vandalism.
Bacon Known for Bipartisan Record in Closely Divided District
Bacon represents Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, based in Omaha, one of the most competitive House districts in the country, and has developed a reputation as one of the chamber’s more bipartisan Republicans, occasionally breaking with his party on individual votes while generally supporting the administration’s broader agenda.
Incident Follows Other Reported Vandalism Near National Mall Landmarks
The memorial vandalism came amid separate reports of damage at the nearby Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and followed a June incident in which unidentified individuals used chemicals to burn markings resembling “86 47” into the lawn near the Washington Monument, part of a string of incidents that has drawn heightened federal law enforcement attention to National Mall memorials in recent months.