Zaid Mohammed Mahdawi, who caused $11,282.23 in damage for his pro-Hamas vandalism outside Washington’s Union Station per the National Park Service, was sentenced to 10 days in prison, six months of supervision, 80 hours of community service and $1,500 in restitution, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia stated on Friday.
Mahdawi, 26, of Richmond, Va., pleaded guilty on Jan. 23 to the misdemeanor of destroying government property. He spray-painted “Hamas is coming” on a statue outside the train station and took down an American flag on July 24, 2024, during a riot in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the U.S. capital.
James Boasberg, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, who has made headlines for his oversight of a controversial case involving the deportation of gang members, who are in the country illegally, to El Salvador, sentenced Mahdawi in the vandalism case.
Protesters were granted a permit for the July 24 gathering, which was held the same day Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress. Rioters pulled three U.S. flags down from their poles and replaced them with Palestinian flags. Per court documents, they also burnt flags and other objects and spray painted multiple statues and structures and interfered with arrests.
Mahdawi lowered one of the American flags personally, spray-painting the message about Hamas on the monument and adding an inverted red triangle, widely seen as a symbol that the Hamas terror group uses to identify targets.
