According to authorities, Farris spray-painted the Atlantic Pavilion of the memorial with the words “Clean hands dirty $” before pouring soap into a fountain, causing it to fill with foam.
During the livestream, she openly acknowledged what was happening.
“It was me. I’m doing it. I’m on camera,” she declared on the livestream. She said she would wait to be arrested for spraying “our veterans’ fountain.”
The National World War II Memorial honors the approximately 16 million Americans who served during the war and more than 400,000 who gave their lives.
But prosecutors allege Farris deliberately selected the federal landmark as the stage for an effort to draw attention to grievances she wanted authorities to address.
She later reportedly boasted online that she had been “allowed to deface Federal f—ing property, and nobody batted an eye.”
According to the federal criminal complaint, Farris indicated before the incident that she understood what she was about to do. She allegedly believed vandalizing federal property would help force what she described as a “whistleblower case” into the judicial system.
A Park Ranger subsequently encountered people near the vandalized pavilion and reportedly saw a woman recording herself at the scene. Authorities say the woman fled after becoming aware of the ranger.
The online performance, however, apparently wasn’t finished.
In another Facebook video, Farris allegedly urged viewers to take her footage and turn it into something that would spread far beyond her own account.
She asked users to “make me look fancy, get it all over the internet.”
That request would prove particularly striking once federal authorities began closing in.
Investigators were reportedly able to identify Farris in part because she had already been arrested only days earlier for allegedly camping illegally on federal property near the memorial.
By Friday, the defiant tone displayed during the vandalism had changed dramatically.
Farris surfaced outside a federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia, broadcasting herself on Facebook Live while crying and preparing to surrender.
“I know I made a lot of people mad, and I’m sorry. I was just trying to get help for myself,” she said.
She told viewers that she has autism and ADHD and expressed fear over what might happen after she entered custody.
“Will somebody please check on me in jail? I have autism, ADHD, and I don’t eat meat,” she said. “I’m afraid they’re gonna hurt me for what I did, and all I was trying to do was help myself.”
Even her surrender was something she planned to document.
“So, I’ll make a video of me turning myself in as much as possible,” she said.
A subsequent recording showed Farris announcing that she was heading to authorities.
“It’s me. I’m going to turn myself in,” she said. “I didn’t want to go to jail.”
Farris attempted to explain her actions by saying she had desperately wanted someone to pay attention to her allegations.
“I’m just trying to do the right thing,” she said. “I was just trying to get people to listen.”
During the emotional broadcasts, Farris discussed living in a poorly insulated camper, being away from her dogs, attempting to contact journalists and authorities, and believing she deserved federal protection.
She also made several extraordinary and unverified allegations, including claims that she had been watched, followed by military aircraft, and witnessed an animal being killed in front of her. No evidence supporting those assertions was presented during the broadcast.
“I was just trying to scream loud enough somebody would help me,” Farris said through tears.
She continued insisting that she had previously tried other avenues to have her concerns heard.
“Please, other people, let people know that I did try to do the right thing for a long time now,” she said.
Her livestream reportedly remained active as she entered the courthouse and attempted to determine where she needed to go.
“Hello, I’m trying to find where I can turn myself in,” Farris was heard saying.
CBS News reported that Farris later appeared before the court and was detained.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced that Farris faces federal charges of willfully injuring or committing depredation against federal property and destruction of a veterans’ memorial.
Each offense reportedly carries a maximum possible sentence of ten years behind bars.
Pirro condemned the vandalism as a “disgusting act” and made clear that federal prosecutors intend to take attacks on monuments honoring American veterans seriously.
The episode presents a remarkable sequence: an alleged vandal records her own actions, acknowledges being on camera, asks strangers online to amplify the footage, and then broadcasts herself crying while heading into federal custody.
Whatever Farris hoped to accomplish by targeting the memorial, she now faces consequences considerably more serious than social-media attention.
The National World War II Memorial exists to honor a generation of Americans who endured extraordinary sacrifice in defense of the country.
Federal prosecutors will now seek to determine the legal consequences for allegedly turning that memorial into a stage for vandalism — a spectacle Farris herself apparently wanted the entire internet to see.
