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Man accused of beheading Iwo Jima statue in Virginia with sledgehammer
CNN • • nation
Key Points:
- A man damaged the Battle of Iwo Jima monument at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, by beheading one of the statues with a sledgehammer, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.
- The suspect, 27-year-old Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano of Stafford, Virginia, was detained without incident and charged with felony destruction of property, trespass with intent to damage, and felony injury to a monument.
- Maldonado Soriano, a Mexican national and Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient, has provided conflicting motives for the vandalism, which remain unclear.
- The damaged monument is a smaller limestone replica of Felix de Weldon’s Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, depicting the famous WWII Iwo Jima flag-raising scene.
- Police have not provided a timeline for repairs to the monument, which is located about 36 miles south of Washington, DC.
