www.esryle.comLOCAL NEWS ACROSS THE NATION
Posted on 09/16/2004 7:48:29 AM PDT by esryle
The three Duluth boys say they want to apologize to man for spray painting his lawn signs supporting President Bush.
"We did it."
Three Duluth teenagers walked into the Duluth News Tribune on Wednesday afternoon, opening with these three words. The boys said they were responsible for vandalizing Bush campaign signs and painting a swastika and the word "Nazi" at a London Road residence last weekend.
An hour later, the three boys traveled to the Lakeside-Lester Park police station, where Sgt. Scott Campbell was waiting to talk to them.
The teenagers told the News Tribune they meant no harm to Bob James, the homeowner and Bush-Cheney supporter who erected the signs. They said they spray painted the signs and the swastika on James' sidewalk but had nothing to do with the vandalism of two of James' vehicles.
Friends and supporters of James and the Republican Party of Minnesota had offered a $2,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the vandalism.
While the teenagers were remorseful for what they did to James, they stood by their contempt for President Bush. They said they left a phone message for James on Wednesday and twice went to his house to apologize, but he wasn't home. They planned to try again later Wednesday.
"It was not an act of hate," said Dustin "Dusty" Dzuck, 17, a senior at Denfeld High School. "My mom called me a terrorist. It wasn't terrorism; it was activism. It was for a cause.... The whole thing is, basically, I just wanted to get the word out there that in my opinion Bush isn't doing this country any good."
Dzuck said his actions bothered him more when he learned James is an Army veteran.
Dzuck's two accomplices didn't want to be identified. One said he is a 17-year-old senior at Denfeld and the other said he is a 16-year-old junior at East High School. Both said they are sorry for what they did to James and his property. They called their actions "immature."
James was in no mood to accept an apology when reached Wednesday evening.
"Too little, too late," he said. "At the age of 16, my boys knew what right and wrong were and this is dead wrong. The swastika and Nazism in reference to President Bush or myself is not going to be tolerated."
When asked what he would say to the boys if they visit him, James said: "I'm going to turn them around and send them back to police. Now it's a police matter.... If they were truly remorseful they wouldn't have done it in the first place."
Because it is a juvenile matter, no information regarding the police investigation was available Wednesday.
Dzuck said he did most of the spray painting and admitted that he had vandalized the signs once before, leading James' son, Kyle, to chase him. He tried to explain why he used the swastika and the word "Nazi."
"The connection between the Nazi party was Hitler used nationalism as a way to motivate his cause and we feel that Bush is doing the same thing," he said. "I was really sickened by that. We have no connection to the Nazi party at all. We're anti-fascist and anti-racist."
The three teenagers said they didn't want to be characterized as John Kerry supporters. They said they simply want someone other than Bush to lead the country.
Dzuck said he's a bassist in the Denfeld jazz band and has written articles for the school newspaper.
He said his mother guessed that he was involved after she saw him reading a newspaper account of the vandalism and realized he had stayed at the home of a friend Saturday night. They committed the vandalism about 4 a.m. Sunday.
"This kid came over to my house yesterday with the paper and said, 'Dude, you have to check this out.' " Dzuck said. "My mom came in the room and asked me what we were reading. I told her. She asked if I had anything to do with it. I lied to her and said no.
"Today, I was going to my car at school and noticed my mom in the parking lot. She got in the car and she was like, 'I know it was you.' "
Like many teenagers, Dzuck said he has "kind of a love-hate relationship" with his mother, but he also respects her and credits her for the action he took Wednesday.
"The main thing that drove me to apologize is my mom. Mom has a horrible grasp on me," he said.
As part of their punishment these kids should have wrote an essay on the Nazi party and explain what National SOCIALISM was about.
I have to say for a thug punk, he is somewhat well spoken.. That being written, he should be whipped and scourged and when that is done I would order my servants to throw his remains in the rubbish heap for the carrion birds to devour. Seriously though, I dare that little thug to come to Singapore and practice his "craft".......the caning he would recieve would teach him a thing or to. Long live Singapore, Long live caning punks like that!
(The teenagers told the News Tribune they meant no harm to Bob James, the homeowner and Bush-Cheney supporter who erected the signs. They said they spray painted the signs and the swastika on James' sidewalk but had nothing to do with the vandalism of two of James' vehicles.)
"But officer, I had nothing to do with the hold-up, I just took a pack of smokes!"
So, is Nazism the only thing kids learn about in history class these days?
Not horrible enough, it seems.
Sure they didn't...sounds like they have a job waiting for them at C-BS...
It was for a cause.... The whole thing is, basically, I just wanted to get the word out there that in my opinion Bush isn't doing this country any good."
What does this young pup know about what's good for this country! Is defacing others property good for this country! These kids need a dose of the woodshed.
Idiots...
Yeah but were these vandals Democrats or Repulicans?
[I'm not laughing...much]
"They didn't mean any harm" and were "remorseful" and claim it wasn't an act of "hate"??
OH, okay.
I guess they should go free then!
And all's okay then, hey why not?
/ sarcasm.
Those creeps should find out just what it is they did and WHY it IS an act of hate.
However, with their claims of 'remorse' people are going to go 'Awwww" and let it slide.
Happens every time.
Unless this time people get fed up with slaps on the wrist.
For the record, a group of teen punks gang raped a mildly retarded girl and their defense at the time was exactly what the punks mentioned in the article said.
That they didn't mean any harm, were remorseful, not an act of hate, and all that happy garbage.
Thankfully, no-one bought the excuse that time.
-Eric
A product of the public schools indoctrination program no doubt. It doesn't seem they got their misinformed opinions from home.
("It was not an act of hate," said Dustin "Dusty" Dzuck, 17, a senior at Denfeld High School. "My mom called me a terrorist. It wasn't terrorism; it was activism. It was for a cause.... The whole thing is, basically, I just wanted to get the word out there that in my opinion Bush isn't doing this country any good.")
Destroying anothers property and intimididating them is not terrorism! < /sarcasm>
You are right, although it seems his mother did pursue this, where's the father?
”Guns Before Butter.”
"It was not an act of hate," this moron says.
Apparently hatred towards Bush doesn't count to this little puke.
Did the mom turn them in? I like how she called him a terrorist.
Maybe they should just put a sign up in their own yard next time.
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