La Habra 9/11 Memorial Update

Thu, Mar 13, 2003 at 3:22:16 pm PST

The September 11 memorial trashed by “anti-war” vandals in La Habra California has been rebuilt bigger than before. Late Tuesday, one of the peace lovers who vandalized it showed up, pontificated about peace and togetherness, and then, overcome with the spirit of togetherness, peacefully grabbed and assaulted the memorial’s owner.

Police early Wednesday arrested a 19-year-old woman who witnesses said showed up at the memorial late Tuesday, claimed responsibility for burning some of the flags and pushed Chandler while saying the memorial endorsed the looming war in Iraq.

Jennifer Quintana, whom police identified only as an Orange County resident, was booked on suspicion of misdemeanor assault and released.

Quintana, who identified herself as a Fullerton College student, argued over the memorial with a crowd of about 25 people when she showed up at the site.

"It's an American flag, obviously it has everything to do with the war," she told the crowd. "There should be no war, just peace and togetherness."

Witnesses said Quintana grabbed Chandler as they argued.

"I told her to get her ignorant hands off me and she started to poke at me, so we called the police," Chandler said.