Grand Jury Refuses To Indict Salvador Perez For Defacing Lafayette 9/11 Memorial

LAFAYETTE, La. (KPEL) -- A grand jury has refused to indict the man accused of defacing Lafayette's memorial to victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

According to KATC-TV 3, a grand jury was presented with the following charges against 35-year-old Salvador Perez:

1) Wilfully, unlawfully and intentionally deface with graffiti any historic building or landmark, whether publicly or privately owned, without consent of the owner, in violation of the provisions of R.S. 14:56.5.

2) Wilfully, unlawfully and intentionally criminally trespass upon the property of The Russo Group. located at 116 E. Congress Street, in that he did intentionally enter without authorization of said premises, in violation of the provisions of R.S. 14:63.

On the 2013 anniversary of the terrorist attacks, Perez allegedly defaced the downtown memorial by placing cardboard cutouts depicting two planes crashing into the twin beams. Those beams were salvaged from the wreckage of the World Trade Center. On the tails of those planes was a reference to the New World Order, a belief that the U.S. government played some kind of role in the attacks.

Beneath the planes was a cardboard cutout of former President George W. Bush controlling the aircraft with a remote control in one hand while holding cash in the other.