A Washington state woman has been arrested after authorities said she vandalized a waterfront memorial honoring fishermen who died at sea, while claiming the statue featured a noose.
Cara Munoz, 34, was detained by Bellingham Police Department officers on Monday afternoon after allegedly filming herself confronting city employees as they cleaned graffiti from the Safe Return statue at Zuanich Point Park.
Munoz now faces charges of resisting arrest, third-degree assault and second-degree malicious mischief, a charge commonly associated with vandalism.
In footage she posted to her public Instagram story, Munoz presented herself as “reporting live” from the park after noticing workers tending to the statue.
Walking toward the memorial, she zoomed in and said: “Hmmm, can we actually see what’s hiding behind this guy? You sure f***ing can’t, nope! You can’t because it’s a noose that they are hiding!”
The visibly agitated woman then approached the male workers and moved closer to the statue as the exchange escalated.
Munoz added: “Hmm, we really like to protect nooses here, apparently. Isn’t that interesting?”
She then appeared to mimic someone while focusing the camera on what is described as a mooring line — a heavy-duty rope used by fishermen — and continued insisting it was a noose.
Cara Munoz, 34, was arrested on Monday afternoon after she allegedly vandalized the Safe Return statue at Zuanich Point Park in Bellingham, Washington
She recorded herself approaching city workers as they removed graffiti from the memorial
‘There’s an anchor there, so it’s connected, therefore it’s not what it is,’ Munoz said sarcastically as she spoke directly to a worker in a bright orange shirt and baseball cap, who ignored her.
‘Sir, what is that? You don’t want to respond? But that’s ok, your face is. Right!’
She then darted around the structure and filmed another worker who also did not respond to her.
Munoz then looked at the other man and said: ‘Hi! Are you gonna do anything about the noose hanging above your head?’
The clip, which has since been taken down from her account but posted online by other users, then panned to another shot of the statue that Munoz appeared to get before the workers got there.
‘This is a representation of the f***ing slick tricks people will go to hide white supremacy,’ she said.
‘That’s a noose. That is a f***ing noose by definition. That is a hate symbol by definition,’ she said as the video ended.
After police arrived at the scene, Munoz refused to get out of her vehicle and spat at officers as they tried to arrest her, a witness told PNW Daily.
Munoz claimed that the memorial displayed a noose, but the rope the fisherman is holding is a mooring line
The clip also showed another shot of the statue that Munoz appeared to get before the workers got there
Munoz was released from Whatcom County Jail on Tuesday on personal recognizance.
The Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office will now decide whether to file formal charges against her.
On Wednesday, she posted a lengthy list of claims on Instagram in regard to her arrest, including that she ‘was carried into jail in restraints with a bag over my head.’
She also claimed her right to an attorney was refused by police, she was not allowed to make a phone call, and that she was held in ‘a solitary confined windowless room.’
Munoz added: ‘I have bruises all over my body from the excessive use of force arrest, laceration on my wrists from handcuffs being tightened to the tightest they could be.’
According to her LinkedIn profile, Munoz is a registered nurse who graduated from the University of Washington in 2014.
Her last nursing job was in July 2023, with Munoz working as a human resource generalist and executive assistant to the CEO for Tolan by Portola, an AI-companion application.
She married her wife, Daniella Sole, in August 2023, according to the couple’s wedding website.
Munoz is a Registered nurse who graduated from the University of Washington in 2014, according to her LinkedIn profile
She married her wife, Daniella Sole (left), in July 2023, according to their wedding website
The famed memorial, which features an eight-foot bronze fisherman casting a mooring line, was vandalized early Monday. Police have not publicly identified who is behind the initial act of vandalism.
The Port of Bellingham took to Facebook on Monday night, stating that police ‘have made an arrest,’ but did not identify a suspect.
The statue has the names of local fishermen who didn’t make it back to shore carved into it. To this day, names are still added to the structure.
The Daily Mail approached Munoz, Sole, the Bellingham Police Department, and the Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for comment.
