Climate zealotry translated to federal felony charges after a stunt pulled on the U.S. Constitution resulted in tens of thousands of dollars in damages.
For those who believe the clock is counting down to the demise of civilization from an ecological disaster, no piece of art or history held a value more important than their warnings of doom. However, a press release from the Department of Justice readily tallied a sum as the cost of cleaning red powder dispersed in the National Archives Rotunda had exceeded $50,000.
Friday, following a Feb. 14 stunt, the DOJ announced that 35-year-old Donald Zepeda of Maryland and 27-year-old Jackson Green of Utah were charged with felony destruction of government property after they had sprinkled a red substance on the display case of the U.S. Constitution.
“Zepeda and Green are charged with felony destruction of government property for dumping a fine red powder over the document’s display case in the Rotunda of the Archives building. The cost of cleaning up after the stunt, which was intended to draw attention to Climate Change, has already exceeded $50,000,” the release indicated. “In addition, the act closed the Rotunda for four days.”
BREAKING: Climate activists just ruined the display of the Constitution in the Rotunda of the National Archives in DC. They poured red powder on themselves and the display.
Security stands around doing nothing for minutes until they finally get arrested. pic.twitter.com/bXggSHgl4T
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 14, 2024
The DOJ further detailed that Green had been charged for another act of vandalism in November that landed him one count of destruction of National Gallery of Art property. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson subsequently ordered the activist to remain out of D.C. and to stay away from museums and public monuments.
For violating the conditions of his release, Judge Berman Jackson ordered the suspected held in D.C. jail on Feb. 22. Zepeda was arrested on Feb. 28 en route to meet “another environmental protestor” according to the Justice Department.
Green’s alleged National Gallery of Art stunt wasn’t the only one committed there in 2023 as vandals also associated with the activist group Declare Emergency had smeared paint all over the display case of French artist Edgar Degas’s “Little Dancer Aged Fourteen.”
Reacting to a Thursday release of Zepeda with an ankle monitor and restrictions, Declare Emergency lauded the zealot and posted, “True protector of people & planet. Peaceful warrior. Truth teller. Pass It On.”
True protector of people & planet. Peaceful warrior.
Truth teller.
Pass
It
On https://t.co/XBADIozsuS— Declare Emergency (@DecEmergency) March 1, 2024
On the day of the incident, they had stated, “We don’t want the end of civilization but that’s the path we’re currently on. Declare Emergency’s nonviolent civil disobedience is love in action everyday, not just on Valentine’s Day.”
As previously reported, Dr. Colleen Shogan, archivist of the United States, released a statement demanding the prosecution of the perpetrators responsible and said, “The National Archives Rotunda is the sanctuary for our nation’s founding documents. They are here for all Americans to view and understand the principles of our nation. We take such vandalism very seriously and we will insist that the perpetrators be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Others were equally offended that the security present during the incident had stood by and let it happen.
Climate crazies dump red powder on U.S. Constitution display in Nat’l Archives as security guards watch https://t.co/i19P3xz4aq via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) February 15, 2024
Despite viral video of the incident, the DOJ reminded, “An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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