Two left-wing climate activists have been charged with felonies after defacing the display case of the US Constitution.
The Justice Department announced Friday that Donald Zepeda of Maryland and Jackson Green of Utah have been charged with felony destruction of government property following a climate change stunt that involved dumping red dust on the framework that protects the Constitution of the United States in the Rotunda of the National Archives.
“The National Archives Rotunda is the shrine to our nation's founding documents,” Dr. Colleen Shogan, archivist of the United States, said in a statement after the incident. “They are here for all Americans to see and understand the principles of our nation. We take that type of vandalism very seriously and will insist that the perpetrators be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
NATIONAL ARCHIVES ROTUNDA EVACUATED AFTER CLIMATE ACTIVISTS SPREAD PINK DUST ON CASE HOLDING U.S. CONSTITUTION.
The National Archives Rotunda was evacuated after climate activists dumped pink dust on a case containing the US Constitution.
The duo's vandalism, which occurred on February 14, immediately led to the evacuation of the roundabout. A video filmed by a supporter shows the couple covered in red dust, which also appeared scattered on the display case protecting the Constitution.
Zepeda and Green appeared to be linked to the left-wing climate activist group Declare Emergency, which is demanding that President Biden “formally declare a state of climate emergency and begin [to] make full use of his executive authority to save this country from collapse.
CLIMATE ACTIVISTS ARRESTED AFTER CLOSING BIDEN CAMPAIGN HEADQUARTERS: 'THOSE ARE BULLS—'
The suspects were arrested within minutes. (Ford Fischer)
“We don't want the end of civilization, but that is the path we are currently on. Declare Emergency's nonviolent civil disobedience is love in action every day, not just on Valentine's Day,” the group posted on social media after the incident.
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In its press release, the Justice Department said Zepeda and Green's stunt had caused more than $50,000 in damages.
The roundabout was closed for four days.
Fox News Digital's Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
