Accused Attacker Of Iwo Jima Monument At Quantico Facing Federal Charges: DOJ

WOODBRIDGE, VA – The Stafford man accused of attacking the Quantico Iwo Jima Memorial on Oct. 21 will face federal charges for the alleged crime, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Miguel Alonso Maldonado Soriano, 27, has already been hit with state charges including felony destruction of public property and destruction of a monument. Police say they found Soriano in the act of attacking the statue with a sledgehammer on the night of Oct. 21, having already knocked the head off one of the soldiers depicted.

The U.S. Department of Justice said in the release that Soriano is accused of removing multiple rifle barrels on the monument and defacing and disfiguring other parts. Damage to the statue has been estimated to run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The DOJ says Maldonado Soriano remains in state custody and will face charges of willfully injuring or committing a depredation against property of the United States and willfully injuring or destroying a monument on public property commemorating the service of persons in the armed forces when transferred to federal custody. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.

The nine-foot Iwo Jima statue, standing near an entrance to Marine Base Quantico and a short walk from the National Museum of the Marine Corps, was carved from limestone by Felix de Weldon in 1945, according to Marine Corps University.

Weldon later recreated the scene as the 100-ton bronze Iwo Jima Monument, which now stands in front of Arlington National Cemetery. That monument was dedicated in 1954. The Quantico statue is one of several smaller-scale statues Weldon created of the scene.

Maldonado Soriano is a Mexican national who was brought to the United States in 1999, sometime around his first year of age, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He was granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status in October 2014, status which was renewed sometime before 2025. According to ICE, Maldonado Soriano’s DACA status has since expired, and a renewal request was denied on Oct. 23, 2026.