Melissa Farris, a 41-year-old woman from Elizabethtown, Kentucky, livestreamed herself damaging the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, August 13.
In a social media post, Donald Trump called her act an “insult to the American heroes” who made the ultimate sacrifice for the country.
Not long after, she was detained and charged with two federal offenses: willfully injuring or committing a depredation against U.S. property and destruction of a veterans’ memorial.
She remains in custody ahead of a preliminary hearing scheduled for today, August 17.
Farris urged her livestream viewers to edit the footage to make her “look fancy”
Farris maintains public Facebook and Instagram accounts under the name Melissa Lovewell and brands herself as a digital creator.
During her livestream on the platforms last week, she was seen filling part of the Atlantic Pavilion fountain at the WWII Memorial with foam, as well as spelling out “Clean Hands Dirty $” on a wall in orange paint.
She also splattered green and pink paint across the ground.
U.S. Park Police were called to the premises at around 2 p.m. However, Farris fled before they could nab her.
At 3:58 p.m., she posted another video asking her audience to edit and distribute her livestream.
“Anybody watching this, please make an edit of the live, highlight the good parts, make me look fancy, and get it all over the internet,” she said.
“Why the f*** didn’t I get arrested? You don’t think that’s weird?” she additionally asked.
She later claimed she had been “allowed to deface federal property” without anyone intervening.
In a subsequent Instagram Story, she predicted that police would soon come for her and asked that the encounter be recorded.
Farris soon livestreamed once again — this time showing herself walking into the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, to turn herself in.
Her case was transferred to the national capital, where she remains in custody
In a Facebook livestream recorded before vandalizing the WWII Memorial, Farris said she was “cognitively aware” of her choices and claimed she was attempting to push an unspecified whistleblower case into a courtroom.
“I am accountable for the things that I do, and the choices that I make, and our government needs to be accountable for their choices too,” she said.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro commented on her actions after her courtroom arrest and the transfer of her case to Washington, D.C.
“Vandalizing our World War II memorial is a despicable attack on a sacred monument honoring the Americans who fought and d**d for our freedom,” she said on social media.
She was also the one to announce the aforementioned charges against Farris.
“She remains in custody,” she informed.
Farris called herself a “homeless freedom fighter” and claimed she’s being targeted by the government
In a series of rambling posts leading up to the act that got her charged, Farris claimed she was under federal wiretap surveillance and spoke about a “golf cart with people sh**ting my house from the vacant property next door in Kentucky.”
“I fled for my life,” she claimed, before identifying herself as a “homeless freedom fighter.”
“I was shown the federal wiretap. I know that it’s on.”
Farris also accused law enforcement of $2.6 billion in malfeasance, including “incidentals,” and said the government should be forced to fund favored programs as punishment.
These included “Nerf g*ns and scooters” for orphans in Detroit, as well as “dog beds and supplies” in Lucas County, Ohio, and a “jet for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.”
In another video, she performed what she described as a “dance party” in front of the White House and said she was “planning the revolution.”
Farris asked people to send her money online to buy paint before the vandalism
The woman asked for the money to be transferred to her friend Maxwell Cuprys’ Cash App account.
He, however, told The New York Post on August 15 that he had not been informed in advance and expressed hope that a cleanup crew would remove the graffiti for which Farris was responsible.
“It’s a very nice monument. Veterans should be looked after,” he said.
He said he last heard from Farris on the day she turned herself in.
“I am not part of her choice to do this. I’m a little disappointed. I do think she’s a good person deep down, though,” Cuprys said.
Trump connected the incident to another alleged act of vandalism as he targeted the U.S. attorney
Earlier this month, Pirro came under fire from the President after she dropped charges against former Olympic canoeist David Hearn, who had been accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
Hearn, who visited the landmark during a bike ride in June, said he reached into the water to touch a piece of coating that had already detached from the bottom of the pool.
He was initially charged with a misdemeanor, but prosecutors later upgraded the offense to a felony.
Pirro’s office argued that the damage was caused by a “rushed and botched” installation of a new lining ordered as part of Trump’s plans to beautify the space ahead of America’s 250th Independence Day celebration.
Trump, however, insisted that it was the result of deliberate sabotage and accused Pirro of having “choked,” warning that her job could be in jeopardy.
Tyler M. Andrews/The Washington Post via Getty Images
On Friday, before Pirro announced Farris’ arrest in connection with the WWII Memorial incident, Trump drew a parallel between the two cases.
“First the reflecting pool, now this. We are on their trail!” he said.
Farris faces a minimum 10-year prison sentence upon conviction.
“Make an example out of her,” a social media user said
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