A federal judge denied a Department of Justice motion on Tuesday to place a Kentucky woman accused of vandalizing the World War II Memorial in Washington into temporary detention, according to court records.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew Sharbaugh denied the motion to detain Melissa Farris, 41, whom he released from jail on her recognizance Monday.
Ms. Farris is due back in court on Sept. 3, according to WJLA-TV.
Under the terms of her release, she cannot travel outside the U.S. without approval, cannot go to the District except to attend court or conduct trial-related business and must get a mental health screening.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia charged Ms. Farris with depredation against property of the United States and defacing veterans’ memorials on Friday.
Federal prosecutors alleged Thursday in a news release that Ms. Farris caused a fountain at the World War II Memorial to bubble up, wrote “Clean Hands Dirty $” in orange spray paint on a wall and sprayed green and pink paint.
Prosecutors said witnesses saw Ms. Farris recording herself on video, and a U.S. Park Police officer recognized her after the incident as a woman they had arrested on Aug. 10 for illegally camping on federal property at Virginia Avenue and 18th Street NW, not far from the memorial.
Ms. Farris live-streamed her Aug. 10 arrest on social media accounts, going by the name “Melissa Lovewell,” the U.S. attorney’s office said.
She is also alleged to have posted a video before the vandalism in which she said: “I am cognitively aware and executively of the choices I am making and I am doing so to push my whistleblower case into the courtroom. … Someone has to make choices that are different and I am accountable for my actions. 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 for their choices too.”
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