Jean Carlo Rojas, 28 years old, was arrested this Friday on charges of damaging the monument to the martyrs of the Bay of Pigs located in Máximo Gómez Park in Little Havana, Miami, according to reported Univision 23.
The incident occurred on the night of July 25, when city surveillance cameras captured Rojas climbing onto the gray missile of the monument and jumping repeatedly until he broke it.
What exacerbates the situation is that this same piece had already been repaired following a previous act of vandalism, making this at least the second attack on the same element of the memorial.
A detective reviewed the recordings, identified the suspect by the clothing he was wearing and his tattoos, and located him walking just a few meters from the monument four days after the incident.
The authorities estimated the damages at approximately 1,000 dollars.
Rojas faces charges of criminal damage to a memorial or historical property, a felony under Florida law. During his initial appearance, the judge ordered him to be held without immediate bail, and he remains incarcerated at the TGK jail in Miami.
The accused does not come to this case without a history: in 2025, he had already faced charges of aggravated assault and resisting an officer, and at the time of the new incident, he was out on bail for a previous case of alleged assault on a law enforcement officer.
A spokesperson for the Miami Police emphasized the determination with which the case was handled: “Seeing someone cause harm to that is personal to us as police officers, and we were able to achieve this arrest.”
The authorities also highlighted the role of technology in the capture: "We have license plate readers, we have cameras at intersections, we have drones, and we now have a level of technology to combat crime that has helped us a lot."
The monument honors the members of the Brigade 2506, the Cuban exiles who, with the support of the CIA, participated in the Bay of Pigs invasion in April 1961 with the aim of overthrowing Fidel Castro's regime.
It was inaugurated on April 17, 1971, exactly ten years after the invasion, and is part of the Cuban Memorial Boulevard in the heart of Calle Ocho.
The vandalism caused an wave of outrage among the Cuban-American community. "It basically means that we are breaking something that holds a lot of value for us Cubans. I can't understand how anyone could do such a thing," said a local resident.
Another resident was equally emphatic: "It breaks your heart to see a person come and commit such a crazy act. It's unacceptable; it's painful."
Vandalism occurs just months after the 65th anniversary of the invasion, when a newly renovated 11,000-square-foot museum of Brigade 2506 was inaugurated in Little Havana with an investment of five million dollars, and only three years after an additional monument was inaugurated in Miami on the 62nd anniversary of the invasion.
In May 2026, Brigade 2506 supported the federal accusation from the U.S. Department of Justice against Raúl Castro for the shooting down of the Hermanos al Rescate planes in 1996, stating that prosecuting Raúl Castro was "just the first step" in the pursuit of justice.
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