Anti-Israel protester charged for damaging federal property during Netanyahu visit – Washington Examiner
A 20-year-old woman from Maryland, Isabella Giordano, faces charges for vandalizing federal property during an anti-Israel protest in Washington, D.C. on July 24, 2024, coinciding with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit. She is accused of using red spray paint to deface the Columbus Fountain and the bases of flagpoles at Columbus Circle. The U.S. Park Police, aided by tips and video evidence, identified her after the protest, which involved demonstrators pulling down flags and spraying graffiti. The estimated cost of damages is over $11,000, and Giordano could face fines and a prison sentence of up to 10 years if convicted. She was scheduled for a court appearance following her arrest. The investigation is ongoing, with approximately 25 individuals arrested in connection with the protest.
Anti-Israel protester charged for damaging federal property during Netanyahu visit
A 20-year-old woman from Maryland was arrested Friday in connection with vandalizing federal property during an anti-Israel protest held at Columbus Circle in front of Union Station in Washington, D.C., this summer.
Isabella Giordano, of Towson, Maryland, has been charged with willfully injuring or depredating property of the United States during a mass demonstration that took place on July 24, 2024, during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the Capitol. The indictment was brought by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Chief Jessica M. E. Taylor of the U.S. Park Police, and FBI acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist, according to a press release.
Protesters gathered between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. at Columbus Circle that day as part of an anti-Israel demonstration. During the protest, participants pulled down flags, burned objects, and sprayed graffiti on various statues and structures in the area. The crowd attempted to stop law enforcement officers from arresting individuals during the demonstration.
Footage posted on X appeared to show Giordano using red spray paint to write “Gaza” on the Columbus Fountain and defacing the base of two flagpoles. Tips received by the U.S. Park Police on Aug. 1 led to her identification and arrest, according to an affidavit.
The National Park Service estimates that repairing the total damage from the protest will cost approximately $11,282.23. While it is not immediately clear the amount of damage Giordano allegedly caused, she is charged under 18 U.S. Code § 1361, which carries a penalty of fines and up to 10 years in prison if the damage to property exceeds a sum of $1,000.
Giordano was scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on Friday afternoon. The investigation is being led by the U.S. Park Police’s Intelligence and Counterterrorism Unit, alongside the FBI Washington Field Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Martin.
Around 25 people were arrested in relation to the protest that day, though a previous Washington Examiner investigation found only about half of those people were charged with various crimes. Some of the individuals facing charges were slated to appear either in-person or remotely at the D.C. Superior Court in late August, and records examined Friday indicate those cases are ongoing.
Giordano’s photo was included on a bulletin posted by U.S. Park Police on July 30 along with photos of five other unidentified individuals whom the agency said it was attempting to identify in relation to “assaulting a police officer and vandalizing federal property” around the Union Station complex.
The Washington Examiner contacted Graves’s office for more information related to the number of protesters charged from the Netanyahu protest.
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