A 31-year-old gun-control activist was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly vandalizing the 9/11 Memorial in New York City.
Johnathan Andrew Tijerina is accused of spray-painting the address of his anti-gun website over the engraved names of some of the 2,977 victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, Islamic terrorist attacks.
'To deface this sacred site is absolutely disgusting and deeply disrespectful to the victims.'
A source familiar with the matter told Blaze News that the Port Authority Police Department received a tip from the 9/11 Memorial Museum around 5 p.m. on Monday that an individual had been detained in connection with vandalism of memorial panels on the north side of the memorial's north reflecting pool.
Tijerina was placed under arrest by PAPD officers, then later transferred to Manhattan Central Booking, said the source. He has been charged with criminal mischief and making graffiti.
According to police, the vandalism caused over $2,550 in damage and was caught on camera, reported the New York Daily News.
The incident was also witnessed by a 16-year-old tourist from the United Kingdom, who told CBS News New York, "I saw somebody with red spray-paint, and they sprayed 'just stop killing kids' over some of the names."
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"And then within, like, less than a minute, the police came and arrested him," he added.
Tijerina appears to have filmed himself admitting guilt.
In a video shared to the Instagram account for the suspect's anti-gun group, a man standing in front of the memorial states, "My name is John Tijerina, and I’ve just spray-painted ‘Just stop killing kids’ on the 9/11 Memorial."
In a statement, Just Stop Killing Kids characterized the suspect as an "experienced civil-resistance organizer" and claimed that "this recent action draws on a tradition of nonviolence intended to compel government action."
A spokesperson for the 9/11 Memorial & Museum said in a statement obtained by CBS News, "The 9/11 Memorial is a sacred place of reflection at the heart of a rebuilt World Trade Center that honors the 2,983 victims killed in the September 11, 2001, and February 26, 1993, terrorist attacks. Yesterday's brief incident was swiftly addressed by security staff and law enforcement, and the impacted area was immediately restored to its commemorative state."
The defacement of the memorial, which is located at the site of the former World Trade Center complex, prompted outrage — especially among individuals whose friends and loved ones are commemorated by the memorial.
"I wear on my wrist the names of more than a hundred friends and colleagues who lost their lives in the attacks 25 years ago. Their memory, and the memory of every innocent life lost that day, deserves the utmost respect," Ret. Col. Thomas Sullivan, a Republican running for election to the New York State Assembly, said in a statement to Blaze News.
"As a survivor of the attacks who went on to fight in the Global War on Terror, I know firsthand the significance of this memorial. It is hallowed ground, a place of remembrance and reflection," continued Sullivan. "It should be treated with the dignity and respect that those we lost deserve."
"To deface this sacred site is absolutely disgusting and deeply disrespectful to the victims, their families, and everyone who continues to carry the weight of that tragic day," added Sullivan. "The individual responsible must be identified, apprehended, and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law."
"This is the Mamdani effect," wrote New York City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino (R).
Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt noted, "I don’t recall this ever happening before Mamdani and AOC were seen laughing at the memorial on national TV."
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