Posted on 08/04/2005 6:39:03 AM PDT by gridlock
Group's spray-painting meant as a political statement
Slogans spray-painted on the side of a church and school, along with dark shadows colored onto streets and sidewalks throughout Cranford's downtown area were meant to be artistic statements, but police call them acts of vandalism.
Three Cranford men and a Garwood resident, all 18-year-old members of a musical group called Interior Decorating, have been charged with criminal mischief in connection with the graffiti incidents that occurred at 17 locations during the morning of July 22, authorities said yesterday.
(snip)
Bonney said the spray-painting was "an artistic statement against capitalism, the war in Iraq, poverty and pretty much everything else that is going wrong in this country."
(snip)
The suspects are accused of writing "USA=KKK" on the window of the front door of St. Michael's Church, and the name of a popular rapper, DMX, had been scrawled on its parochial school wall.
(snip)
He said the group chose the downtown area of Cranford because of its "upper-class" nature and because they wanted to make a statement "in our own hometown."
(snip)
Bonney said the dozen or so members of his group do not consider themselves political activists, but rather artists who want to speak out against the shortcomings of the "baby boomer generation."
Bonney, whose group has had previous run-ins with local law enforcement, said they don't believe what they have done is a crime. He said the recent charges will not stop their activities.
"If anything, this will only encourage more people to join us, and we plan more activities," he said.
Quinn said, "We can't charge somebody in advance of them doing something."
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
Any helpful suggestions from FReeperland?
Aim for the center of mass.
it would be wrong to break into their personal bedrooms and do the same thing to their stuff.....wouldn't it?
Check the unemploy(able)ment line for paint stained fingers ...
Suggestions? Sure.
Spray paint the vandals with India Ink.
Beat their A**es.
After you beat them.
Yes it would be wrong to break into their personal bedrooms and do the same thing. Wrong because their bedroom is in the basement of their parents house.
And empty the magazine. Yeah, I know that part. I don't think we're allowed to shoot 'em, though. This is New Jersey.
I like the way you think. It will be easy enough to get their (parent's) addresses. Maybe a sign in the front lawn that says "My kid is an a$$hole"... Or a bumper sticker for the car, perhaps.
The article convinced me that both the newspaper and local LE are taking these radical A-holes way to lightly.
I say catch 'em and cane 'em, the bleeding welts on their butts being "an artistic statement" against senseless defacing of property.....
Last time I saw it, Cranford was a fine-looking town. The downtown commercial area was neat as a pin and people took justifiable pride in the appearance of stores and homes alike.
The culprits say what culprits always say, they're doing it for justice or some other noble concept. It's really envy and spitefulness, from people who want to destroy what they can never achieve or equal.
If I were running things, their punishment would be exile. At least in remote penal colonies, some punks learned to stand on their own feet and respect hard work.
My suggestion? Catch them, and apply a suitable amount of kinetic energy directing a FENCE POST INTO THEIR HEADS! These morons should be beaten, and then given a one-way ticket to the turd-world hellhole of their choice!
Our local LE is taking all problems lightly, these days.
The new chief was promoted for reasons other than competence, and he is letting all the officers hang out at their homes and be "on call" instead of being "on patrol". He is too weak to keep control of his officers in any other way than giving them anything they want. Apparently what they want is to sit around the house in their underwear watching Oprah all day, and getting paid for it.
The inevitable result is a crime wave in a town that, until last year, nothing ever happened. These punks are a symptom of that larger problem.
It is. But it is getting out of control. See my Post 15. The police have pretty much stopped working, and these idiots can run around downtown spray painting every thing in sight without having to worry about seeing a cop.
This amount of damage took hours to accomplish. There is not a cop on the street, expect to respond to calls after the fact.
A little 'Roundup' or similar weed killing product on the front lawn couldn't hurt I suppose. After all it's art and it's only private property which we all know, by now, isn't private or property anymore!
R3
We used to have Nazi cops. But not anymore. Now it seems like we have no cops at all. We're still paying the 58 salaries (in a town of 10,000), but darn if you ever actually see one of 'em, except after the fact. They will always come to your broken into house and take a report...
Anyway, If I were you, get off the couch and set up a neighborhood watch,...
I believe you are right. The folks in the neighborhood are going to have to take care of themselves.
Burn down their homes -- with them inside, of course.
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