Accused WWII Memorial vandal: ‘I made a big mess to get the nation’s attention’

The woman accused of vandalizing the World War II Memorial on the National Mall earlier this month said during a new interview that she did it to “get the nation’s attention.”

Melissa Farris, 41, told The Washington Post she graffitied the memorial in an attempt to spotlight what she alleges was wrongdoing by a former union employer in Kentucky.

“Veterans fought for people, not monuments or memorials, and I honor veterans by trying to keep our liberties and life and happiness here,” she said in the interview, which was published Thursday. “One thing everybody can agree on is everybody loves to hate on something.”

“So, I made a big mess to get the nation’s attention,” she added.

Farris was arrested two weeks ago after prosecutors say she livestreamed herself writing “Clean hands Dirty $” in orange spray paint on the inside of the memorial’s Atlantic Theatre Pavilion and poured dish soap into the fountain.

A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted Farris on one count of destruction of veterans’ memorials and one count of destruction of federal property. Each felony charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

“I believe now that I was extremely naïve,” she told the Post. “I thought Washington is where you go to practice democracy. It broke my heart to walk into our nation’s capital. I think that I idealized it.”

Farris was released from jail a few days after her arrest but was ordered to surrender her passport and stay away from the memorial. A D.C. magistrate judge also barred her from traveling outside of the northern Ohio and eastern Michigan area, where she lives.

Federal prosecutors had urged the judge to keep her behind bars, raising concerns in court filings that the woman’s “history and characteristics” indicate she may be a flight risk.

“Defendant was defiant and outspoken before, during, and immediately after committing her crimes,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro wrote in an Aug. 17 motion. “Her attitude only changed after she did not receive the attention she so desperately craved, demonstrating that any expressed remorse is insincere.”

Farris is set to appear before U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden in D.C. for a hearing on Thursday.

The stunt successfully grabbed President Trump’s attention, who wrote in a Truth Social post a few days before Farris’s arrest that authorities were homing in on people suspected of damaging the site.

“Our beautiful World War II Memorial was just hit by Spray Painting Vandals,” he wrote. “THERE CAN BE NO GREATER INSULT TO THOSE AMERICAN HEROES IN WORLD WAR II. First the Reflecting Pool, now this. We are on their trail! Where do these animals come from???”

The Post reported that Farris received dozens of angry messages on social media after the incident, and that she and her family had also gotten death threats. But the 41-year-old appeared unfazed by the criticism.

“I can unite a nation quicker than anybody else, apparently, because it didn’t matter what political party they were,” she told the newspaper. “They can still all hate me, and then I’m going to give them the truth.”