WASHINGTON—The Justice Department moved Wednesday to dismiss its own motion. A federal judge had rejected the department's filing in a case against Melissa Ferris, 41. Ferris lives in a tent near the World War II Memorial.
She was charged last week after live-streaming herself shouting and urinating on memorial grounds. Prosecutors put cleanup costs at exactly $1,000. That amount made the case a felony under their filing. They called her the "DC Vandal" in a press release.
The Ferret-Wearing-Shitgibbon has made prosecuting unhoused people a signature public-safety initiative. The case was flagged as a priority by the White House, according to two officials. They requested anonymity to discuss internal charging decisions.
In court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Gerald Meeks told the judge the department had filed the wrong motion. "We do not believe she is a terrorist," Meeks said. "We just needed a flexible standard to keep the defendant off the street during trial."
Judge Carla Whitfield was unmoved. "She is not a terrorist. She is not an enemy combatant. She is a person in a tent," Whitfield said. "Your motion used the Espionage Act by mistake. That is not a mistake. It is a strategy with a typo."
The department then asked to re-file under a simpler vandalism charge. The judge denied that request as well. "You made your motion. I rule on motions. That is what I do," she said.
Legal analysts said the case was the latest federal prosecution aimed at untreated mental illness. "There is no way to separate this from the reflecting pool debacle," said former federal prosecutor Harry Litman. "They never had the goods, and now they are trying to lock up a woman for urinating in public."
Ferris had turned herself in at a Virginia courthouse the day after the incident. She told clerks what she had done and waited to be arrested.
"This is mental health. This is not a federal case," said Ben Meiselas, an attorney who has followed the file. "They cannot even beat a woman who filmed herself peeing on the floor. That is the Justice Department now."
The prosecution asked for detention, citing a flight risk. Ferris had no flight reservations, no passport, and no fixed address. The court released her the same afternoon.
A department spokesperson said the agency would review available options. "We remain committed to pursuing all cases that protect historic granite," the spokesperson said. "We will no longer label every suspect a terrorist unless the judge prefers that."
