Early Thursday evening, my RedState colleague Ward Clark reported that Mexican national Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano was arrested for allegedly taking a sledgehammer to an Iwo Jima monument replica near Quantico, VA. His action exacted substantial damage; one of the Marine figures was even decapitated.
The reasons for Maldonado Soriano's presence in our country had not immediately been established.
As Clark so cogently expressed:
And an act like this, because of that brotherhood, enrages all of us. We don't know if the goblin who did this originally came here from somewhere else, whether he is here legally or illegally, or whether he was born here. And, honestly, in this context, it doesn't matter. The hate and disrespect he showed towards a monument depicting the ultimate moment on what was one of the greatest American feats of arms tells us all we need to know about Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano, and if the local authorities wanted to put him in a cell with a couple of Marines and look the other way for a little while, most of us veterans wouldn't have much problem with that.
Later this evening, Fox News congressional correspondent Bill Melugin supplied this update. Maldonado Soriano has now been charged with felony destruction of property and trespass with intent to damage property. To no one's surprise, Maldonado Soriano is indeed in this country illegally, and has been since 1999, when he crossed the Southern border during the Clinton administration. Subsequent Democrat administrations have supplied Maldonado Soriano with DACA protections, allowing him to remain in the interior and live by siphoning off the American taxpayer. That is until the Trump 47 administration chose not to renew his DACA status.
NEW: Multiple federal sources confirm to @FoxNews that the suspect arrested for using a sledgehammer to behead a WW2 Iwo Jima monument in Quantico, VA on Tuesday is a Mexican illegal alien & former DACA recipient whose legal status expired this year. Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano has now been charged with felony destruction of property and trespass with intent to damage property. Per federal sources, Soriano illegally crossed into the U.S. in December 1999. He was granted DACA by the Obama administration in 2014 and had it extended for years, most recently by the Biden admin in 2024, but he lost his DACA status in August of this year when it wasn’t renewed by the Trump administration.
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) October 23, 2026
NEW: Multiple federal sources confirm to @FoxNews that the suspect arrested for using a sledgehammer to behead a WW2 Iwo Jima monument in Quantico, VA on Tuesday is a Mexican illegal alien & former DACA recipient whose legal status expired this year.
Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano has now been charged with felony destruction of property and trespass with intent to damage property.
Per federal sources, Soriano illegally crossed into the U.S. in December 1999. He was granted DACA by the Obama administration in 2014 and had it extended for years, most recently by the Biden admin in 2024, but he lost his DACA status in August of this year when it wasn’t renewed by the Trump administration.
The Washington Post offered more detail about the damage Maldonado Soriano left in his wake.
Prince William County police said a man took a sledgehammer to the Iwo Jima statue near the Quantico Marine base in Virginia, causing what they estimated was hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.
Shortly after 10 p.m. Wednesday, police found Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano “actively damaging the statue with a sledgehammer,” according to a police department daily incident report. The incident took place at the intersection of Richmond Highway and Fuller Road in the community of Triangle.
The violence left one of the statue’s Marines without a head, according to police and photos. A second Marine was missing the bayonet from the rifle slung over his back. A third figure’s helmet and face had been “chipped and gouged,” police said in a statement.
Maldonado Soriano, 27, of Stafford, was arrested without incident, the report said. He faces two felony charges, injury to a monument and destruction of property, and a charge of misdemeanor trespass with intent to damage property. A representative for the attorney listed in online court records as handling Maldonado Soriano’s case said the office couldn’t yet comment. He is being held without bond.
The White House issued a statement on these latest developments.
White House statement to @FoxNews:
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) October 23, 2026
“This criminal illegal alien’s dream is over: Maldonado Soriano disrespected our brave service members and defaced a beautiful monument that honored their sacrifice. President Trump has secured our border and is deporting illegal criminals who…
White House statement to @FoxNews:
“This criminal illegal alien’s dream is over: Maldonado Soriano disrespected our brave service members and defaced a beautiful monument that honored their sacrifice. President Trump has secured our border and is deporting illegal criminals who hate our country and our values. The socialist Democrats want to go back to open borders and flood our communities with dangerous criminal illegal aliens.” - Taylor Rogers, WH Spokeswoman
The reasons why Maldonado Soriano decided to take this action are still undetermined.
Expect outrage over this to be dialed to 11. Here's the silver lining: it just may have made it easier for those on the fence to know how to vote. Particularly for those who care about our veterans and revere the symbols that honor their service, as well as respect the work of Customs and Border Security (CBP). This is also reason number 999 why everyone in the country illegally must go home. There is no way to tell when that fine line between "just here to have a better life," and violent attacks with a sledgehammer — or worse — on our statues and our citizens will get crossed.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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