FBI: Former Fort Bliss soldier arrested for vandalism of statue on Tigua Reservation

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested a former Fort Bliss soldier for the October 2017 vandalism of the Nestora Granillo Piarote Memorial Statue at the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Cultural Center on the Tigua Reservation.

Justin Haggerty, 28, former U.S. Army soldier stationed at Fort Bliss, was arrested in Atlanta, Georgia.

Investigators said Haggerty vandalized the statue on Columbus Day 2017 by pouring red paint onto the statue. Haggerty also placed a large red wooden cross in front of the statue, investigators said.

Haggerty has been charged with a single count of “Malicious Mischief regarding Building or Property within Special Maritime and Territorial Jurisdiction”

Haggerty is awiating extradition to the Western District of Texas by the United States Marshals Service.

“This arrest will serve to remind those who would commit such crimes, that the FBI will aggressively investigative these cases and work tirelessly to bring those who perpetrate violence to justice,” said Emmerson Buie, Jr., FBI El Paso Special Agent in Charge.