THE DAILY BS: HOW MUCH CAN YOU HANDLE?
SPARE ME THE BS (I’ve got things to do).
- Police say they caught Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano, 27, smashing an Iwo Jima statue near Quantico with a sledgehammer, leaving one Marine figure without its head.
- Fox News reporter Bill Melugin says federal sources identified him as a Mexican illegal immigrant whose DACA protection expired in August.
- The damage is estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. He faces multiple charges and is being held without bond as furious reactions spread on X.
LAY IT ON ME (I’ve got time).
A Marine figure on an Iwo Jima monument is missing its head, police estimate hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage, and the suspect is a Mexican illegal immigrant who previously received DACA protection, according to federal sources cited by Fox News.
The reaction on X was furious. Apparently, Americans remain rather attached to memorials honoring the people who fought for their country. Terribly unfashionable of them.
Prince William County police identified the suspect as Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano, 27, of Stafford, Virginia. Officers responding around 10:13 p.m. Wednesday, October 21, found him striking the statue near Richmond Highway and Fuller Road with a sledgehammer, according to their incident report.
They detained him without incident. The monument had already sustained extensive damage, including the removal of one depicted Marine’s head.
Fox News reporter Bill Melugin subsequently reported that multiple federal sources identified Maldonado Soriano as a Mexican illegal immigrant and former DACA recipient. According to those sources, he entered the country illegally in December 1999, received DACA in 2014 and lost that protection in August when it was not renewed.
The immigration revelation intensified the responses collected by Twitchy, where commenters expressed disgust at the damage and frustration with immigration policy.
“I had to see it for myself today….it’s sickening,” Melissa Capista wrote.
Another commenter, posting as Pancake Batter, called the vandalism a disgrace: “It’s a disgrace to see that memorial desecrated.”
There is something particularly grotesque about taking a sledgehammer to men depicted raising the American flag. The figures cannot fight back, which presumably makes the assignment considerably easier than anything the actual Marines faced.
Matt Van Swol connected his anger to the broader immigration debate.
“Every single day I think I cannot be more radicalized by how god-awful our immigration policy has been,” he wrote.
Other replies similarly demanded tougher enforcement and condemned the disrespect shown to the memorial. The anger centered on both the physical destruction and the symbolism of attacking a tribute to American military sacrifice.
The damaged limestone sculpture stands near Marine Corps Base Quantico and depicts the World War II flag-raising on Iwo Jima. Other reported damage included gouges to a figure’s helmet and face and damage to a bayonet.
Maldonado Soriano faces charges of felony destruction of property, trespass with intent to damage property and felony injury to a monument. The police report lists him as held without bond, with a court date pending. Authorities have not publicly identified a motive.
DBS WIRE SOURCES (I’ve got all day).
- Twitchy — Immigration-status revelation intensifies outrage over Iwo Jima monument attack
- Primary police report — October 22 incident report detailing arrest, damage, charges and bond status
- Primary reporting — Bill Melugin cites federal sources on suspect’s immigration history and expired DACA protection
- NBC4 Washington — Police describe sledgehammer attack and extensive damage to Quantico statue
- Fox News reporting, via WHMI — Details of damage and history of the limestone monument
- Primary reaction — Melissa Capista describes visiting the damaged monument
- Primary reaction — Matt Van Swol criticizes immigration policy
- ‘Where do these animals come from?’ Trump erupts, vandal suspects to WWII Memorial arrested
