A bizarre attack on the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence in Washington DC earlier this year was like “an emotional buzzsaw,” according to America’s archivist.
Colleen Shogan, who also serves as the head of the National Archives and Records Administration, spoke in court Tuesday before a federal judge at the sentencing of a career climate protestor who, along with a partner, helped smear red paint on display cases holding the historic documents.
The Valentine’s Day incident was a willful assault on “our shared past and the beliefs which unite us as Americans,” Shogan said in her remarks.
“These documents are the physical embodiment of our nation’s core principles and symbolize what it means to be an American….The attack was an emotional buzz saw for the staff of the National Archives and many across the country,” she said of the crime committed by Jackson Green and Donald Zepeda. “It was like a member of our family had been attacked.”
Green and Zepeda entered the Rotunda inside the National Archives in Washington, D.C., and plastered the encasements protecting the founding documents with red paint and a non-toxic pink powder.
“These documents are the physical embodiment of our nation’s core principles and symbolize what it means to be an America,” Shogan testified.
The Bill of Rights, kept in the same space, was not targeted.
Shogan told U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson the “extremely fine paint” that coated the case for the Constitution “had spread throughout the Rotunda — threatening to stain and permanently disfigure the historic marble.
“Complicating matters, the powder had penetrated the outer layer of protection afforded by the encasement, finding its way into the fine details of the intricately cast bronze and between the layers of glass that serve as the first line of defense for the Constitution,” she continued.
The rotunda was closed to the public for four days. The attack resulted in more than $50,000 in damage.
Shogan said the two original founding documents are “the very definition of priceless,” and urged the judge to render their harshest punishment possible.
“It should be clear to anyone that assaulting the encasement of the United States Constitution in the Rotunda of the National Archives Building is not the same as vandalizing a public park or the wall of an office building — physically or symbolically,” Shogan said.
“As Americans we have the right to free speech, but that does not absolve us of our actions’ consequences. And the consequences for choosing to assault the fundamental records of our nation should be significant.”
She said climate protests that target “museums and the unique treasures of our cultural history that we hold in trust for the nation” aren’t petty, victimless crimes.
“Sending a strong message to clearly establish the significance of these crimes and deter future attacks is essential, not only for the National Archives, but for all cultural institutions across the country,” she said. “I respectfully urge you to consider the maximum possible sentence for these crimes. Anything less sends the wrong message to Americans about the rule of law, our system of government, and the principles which enable its peaceful continuity.”
Zepeda, a leader of Declare Emergency, was arrested with Green, and both were charged with felony destruction of government property.
Green, from Utah, was sentenced Tuesday to 18 months. On Friday, Zepeda, who lives in Maryland, received a two-year prison sentence. Both men recently accepted plea deals from prosecutors.