Defendants Caused Over $58,000 in Damage Within the Rotunda
November 27, 2024 – WASHINGTON – Donald Zepeda, 35, of Maryland, and Jackson Green, 27, of Utah, were sentenced in U.S. District Court to 24 months in prison and 18 months respectively in the February 14, 2024, attack on the U.S. Constitution housed at the National Archives in Washington D.C.
The sentencings, which occurred earlier this month, were announced on Tuesday by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the Washington Field Office Criminal and Cyber Division.
(Pictured) Jackson Green (left) and Donald Zepeda.
Zepeda pleaded guilty on August 15 to felony destruction of property for dumping a fine red powder over a display case containing the U.S. Constitution in the Rotunda of the Archives building. The cost of cleaning up after the stunt, which was intended to draw attention to climate change, exceeded $58,000. In addition, the offense closed the Rotunda for four days, preventing students, visitors, and D.C. residents from visiting. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered Zepeda to serve 24 months of supervised release, to pay restitution in the amount of $58,600, to complete community service, a portion of which must include cleaning up graffiti, and ordered him to stay out of the District of Columbia and all museums nationwide.
Green also pleaded guilty on August 13 to felony destruction of property for the red powder attack on the U.S. Constitution and, in addition, pleaded guilty to one count of injury to a National Gallery of Art exhibit for his November 14, 2023, defacement of a memorial to Black Civil War soldiers, Augustus Saint-Gaudens’s Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial (1900). Green had been charged in the assault on the Shaw Memorial only 13 days before Zepeda joined him in soiling the Archives. In addition to the prison term, Judge Berman Jackson ordered Green to serve 24 months of supervised release, to pay restitution in the amount of $58,600, to complete community service, a portion of which must include cleaning up graffiti, and ordered him to stay out of the District of Columbia and all museums nationwide. In addition to his role in the attack on the Constitution, Zepeda helped organize and filmed the attack on the Shaw memorial. Zepeda was also involved in the April 2023 attack on the display of Degas’ Little Dancer Aged Fourteen at the National Gallery of Art.
According to court papers, Zepeda and Green are members of Declare Emergency, a group of activists that purport to raise awareness regarding climate change by engaging in a variety of criminal offenses, primarily in Washington, D.C.
Green (left) and Zepeda posed for photographs on February 14, 2024, after dumping red powder on a display case housing the U.S. Constitution at the National Archives.
Zepeda and Green’s criminal actions predate the attacks on the U.S. Constitution. During the week of April 24, 2023, Zepeda and other members of Declare Emergency orchestrated an escalating series of offenses in Washington, D.C. that included blocking rush hour traffic on April 24, 2023, and April 26, 2023. Zepeda also helped plan and participated in the April 27, 2023, attack on the National Gallery of Art exhibition of Edgar Degas’ Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. Zepeda filmed as two group members smeared red and black paint on the case, base, and floor surrounding the exhibit. Zepeda purchased the paint used in the offense one week before the defacement. Zepeda has hosted trainings for individuals who were interested in participating in similar attacks.
On November 14, 2023, Green defaced The Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial which commemorates the Civil War efforts of one of the first regiments of African Americans in our country’s history.
On November 14, 2023, Green, Zepeda, and other members of Declare Emergency, entered the National Gallery of Art (NGA), and approached Augustus Saint-Gauden’s The Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial, which commemorates the Civil War efforts of one of the first regiments of African Americans in our country’s history. Green then hand-painted “Honor Them” in red paint on the wall next to the mural, below the inscribed names of the Regiment. Zepeda and other members of Declare Emergency filmed Green’s actions. NGA reported that it cost $706 to repair the damage.
On February 6, 2024, Green self-surrendered and made his initial appearance before the Honorable G. Michael Harvey. As a condition of Green’s release, Judge Harvey ordered Green to stay-away from Washington, D.C. and also to stay away from all museums and public monuments. While under oath, Green stated that he understood these conditions and agreed to them.
Despite his express acknowledgment of his release conditions, on February 14, 2024, Green, accompanied by Zepeda, entered the National Archives at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Green and Zepeda stood in front of the display of the U.S. Constitution and emptied bags containing red powder on themselves and the case. The offense was captured by several video cameras. Green and Zepeda were still covered in powder when law enforcement arrested them.
Zepeda (left) and Green were photographed covered in red powder after their attack on the U.S. Constitution at the National Archives in Washington D.C.
The National Archives was closed from February 14, 2024, to February 17, 2024, to allow for repairs which cost approximately $58,646.25.
On February 16, 2024, Green appeared in Court, still covered in red powder from his attack on the Constitution. Green was detained until a hearing on February 21, 2024, after which he was released to the custody of a farm in Virginia. On August 15, 2024, Green pleaded guilty, without a plea agreement, to both counts of the indictment against him. Despite that, he immediately violated his conditions of release, wandering around Washington, D.C., including around the monuments which he was barred from visiting. At a hearing held on August 30, 2024, Green indicated to the Court that he would not abide by his release conditions and was remanded into custody.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, specifically the FBI’s Art Crime Team, with assistance from the National Archives, the National Gallery of Art Police, and U.S. Park Police. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron A. Tepfer of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
Source & photos: DOJ Release
