D.C. green paint suspect released to halfway house

The alleged Washington paint splasher sits in jail while police try and connect her to the vandalism spree at three other landmarks, including the Lincoln Memorial.
USATODAY 6:23 p.m. EDT August 2, 2013

Police say shoe tread of Chinese national who overstayed visa matched print found at Lincoln Memorial vandalism.


Green paint was splashed on the pipe organ of the historic Bethlehem Chapel in the lower level of Washington National Cathedral.(Photo: Washington National Cathedral)

A 58-year-old Chinese national accused of defacing Washington National Cathedral with green paint has been released to a halfway house, where she will be electronically monitored.

At a court appearance Friday, a District of Columbia judge ordered that Jiamei Tian, whom authorities said had overstayed her tourist visa and had no fixed address, must also not leave the facility or have visitors. She was arrested Monday and charged with defacing two chapels in the cathedral.

STORY: Woman arrested in paint vandalism at D.C. cathedral

Police suspect that Tian is also connected to similar vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial, a Smithsonian statue on the National Mall, another Washington church and a statue of theologian Martin Luther. Prosecutors had said she arrived in Washington shortly before the vandalism.

At Friday's preliminary hearing, a detective testified that the tread from one of the shoes she was wearing matched a paint footprint found early July 26 at the Lincoln Memorial, The Washington Post reported.

STORY: Vandalism suspect queried on Lincoln Memorial damage

One visitor reported finding two 20-ounce Mountain Dew bottles full of green and white paint, plus white footprints near the memorial's Gettysburg Address inscription. Police said that when Tian was arrested inside the cathedral she had a soda can containing similar green paint.

The National Park Service said Thursday that the cleanup was nearly finished. Work cleaning and restoring an organ and altar piece damaged in the Bethlehem and Children's chapels at the National Cathedral is continuing.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/02/vandalism-green-paint-cathedral-lincoln-memorial/2613587/