A 16-year-old boy who was allegedly one of the anti-Israel protestors who vandalized a World War One memorial in New York City's Central Park on Monday was turned in by his father, the New York Post reported, citing NYPD sources.
The teen faces a felony charge of criminal mischief in the third degree and a misdemeanor charge of making graffiti. He has regularly attended anti-Israel protests organized by the Within Our Lifetime movement in recent months.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry announced the arrest in a post to social media which included a blurry photograph of the teen spray-painting the word "Gaza" in large red letters on the 107th Infantry Memorial.
"The despicable vandalism we saw earlier this week on the WWI Memorial will not be ignored, and will not go unpunished. One of the culprits was placed in handcuffs today thanks to the World’s Greatest Detectives. This isn’t simply juvenile hijinks- it’s an act of desecration that undermines the freedoms our heroes fought and died for," Dauhtry wrote.
The vandalism took place on Monday night, when a group of over 1,000 anti-Israel demonstrators was forced into Central Park after being blocked by police from their goal of disrupting the Met Gela.
The word "Gaza" was written multiple times in large black and read letters on the memorial for the 107th Infantry, which was dedicated in 1927. One demonstrator burned an American flag in front of the memorial.
Stickers of the Palestinian flag were also attached to the statues of the memorial. The stickers featured the slogans “Stop the Genocide. End the apartheid. Free Palestine.”
In addition, a memorial to William Tecumseh Sherman, a general who served in the Union Army during the American Civil War, was also defaced, with protestors writing "Free Gaza" on the memorial and draping a Palestinian flag over the general's statue.