Two activists accused of throwing a red powder on the U.S. Constitution display case at the National Archives last month are now facing felony charges, the Justice Department (DOJ) announced Friday.
Donald Zepeda, 35, of Maryland, and Jackson Green, 27, of Utah, were charged with felony destruction of government property for dumping the fine red powder all over the display case in an indictment that was unsealed in District Count on Thursday, per the DOJ.
Conservationists worked to clean up the building’s rotunda after the protestors dumped the powder as part of a stunt intended to draw attention to climate change. The cost of cleaning up the powder has already exceeded $50,000 and closed the rotunda for four days, the DOJ said.
The Associated Press was granted access to the rotunda, where employees were cleaning the pinkish-red powder from the “nooks and crannies” of the document’s protective housing. Crews were hesitant to use water or liquids to clean the powder since they did not know what it consisted of.
National Archives employees clean pink powder on the casement of the U.S. Constitution inside the National Archives Rotunda in Washington, Feb. 14, 2024. (William J. Bosanko/National Archives via AP)
A conservator told the news wire they were fortunate none of the pigment “penetrated the casing” and the document is undamaged.
The powder, made of pigment and cornstarch, was so fine that an industrial vacuum couldn’t pick it up and crews were “on their hands and knees until midnight” cleaning it before resuming the next day, the AP reported.
The Archive’s rotunda houses the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
Green was previously charged in a separate vandalism act at the National Gallery of Art on Nov. 14. He was charged with one count of destruction of property.
He was also ordered by a district judge to stay away from Washington and all museums and public monuments. Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered he be held in a Washington jail on Feb. 22 for violating the order.
Zepeda was arrested while on his way to Raleigh, N.C., to meet with another environmental protestor.
Supporters of the men filmed the act of protest. In a video posted to social media, one of the men said they were “determined to foment a rebellion.”
“We all deserve clean air, water, food and a livable climate,” he said, according to the AP.
The case is being investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
The Associated Press contributed.