Arrest made in connection with damaged property at Union Station after DC protest
Authorities on Friday announced an arrest in connection with damage to federal property outside Union Station in Washington, D.C. following a demonstration this summer.
The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia said footage posted to X showed 20-year-old Isabella Giordano of Towson, Md. writing “Gaza” with red spray paint on the Columbus Fountain in front of Union Station on July 24.
The U.S. Attorney’s office said that Giordano also spray-painted the base of two flagpoles in Columbus Circle.
Giordano, who is charged with “willfully injuring or depredating any property of the United States,” is expected to make an appearance in U.S. District Court Friday afternoon.
Law enforcement had asked for tips on five individuals in connection with the damaged property.
Authorities said demonstrators who had gathered in Columbus Circle “pulled down flags affixed to the flagpoles; burned flags and objects; sprayed graffiti on multiple statutes and structures; and interfered with law enforcement’s ability to place individuals under arrest” during a two-hour period.
The National Park Service estimated the total cost to clean up and repair the damage at $12,000.
The White House labeled the protests outside Union Station, which occurred while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave an address to lawmakers at the U.S. Capitol, as “disgraceful.”
“Identifying with evil terrorist organizations like Hamas, burning the American flag, or forcibly removing the American flag and replacing it with another, is disgraceful,” deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement one day later.
Former President Trump called for those who burned flags at the protest to be jailed.
“You should get a one-year jail sentence if you do anything to desecrate the American flag,” Trump said on “Fox & Friends” in July. “Now, people will say, ‘Oh, it’s unconstitutional.’ Those are stupid people. Those are stupid people that say that.”
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