In South Haven Michigan, local authorities and the FBI are investigating multiple swastikas that were spray painted at a Jewish Summer Camp on a variety of surfaces including a car, a sign, a building and picnic table.
Can it be just a coincidence of the choice of a swastika and its location on Jewish Camp? What is the limit of free speech and where do we as a society draw the line. Is this an artist expression or a targeted hate crime? At least there were no physical attacks or injuries, but is their a relationship? Gang violence and gang graffiti go hand in hand. And the swastika symbol is one that clearly communicates hate, intolerance and violence.
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Louisville, Kentucky - Philip G. Rodriguez, 25, was arrested for stealing t-shirts from a local store. The reason for the theft was that the store owner, Jeffrey Dotson, photographed graffiti on his building and printed it on t-shirts with proceeds going to support Brightside, the Louisville beautification effort. Rodriguez, a prolific graffiti tagger, claimed the image was his and that the t-shirts violated his copyright.
So is graffiti protected by copyright law? Does the photography of the tag change its status from vandalism to art? How can one claim ownership over the tag without admitting to vandalism and potential exposure to criminal charges? More at Courier-Journal.com Brooklyn, New York - As Jackie Robinson stood for freedom in the face of ugly racism, now his sculpture which celebrates his courage has also been subjected to similar ugly racist attack.
"There was the word "N". And next to that there was a picture of a swastika and over that it said 'Heil,'" said Patrick, an area resident. The inscription on the sculpture includes the following words "Robinson endured racist taunts, jeers, and death threats that would have broken the spirit of a lesser man. U.S. Senator Charles Schumer released a statement saying, "Almost every Saturday morning I stop by the statue on my bike, and am deeply moved each time. Defacing the Jackie Robinson statue is a dagger in the heart to everything America stands for, and I hope those who are responsible are caught, punished, and taught why what they did is so disgusting and offensive." Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said in a statement, "I am beyond disgusted by the defacing of this monument to tolerance and civil rights in America's Playground. This reprehensible behavior is a direct affront to the millions of Brooklynites that stand for diversity and respect. Whatever socially disconnected individual is responsible for this racist, anti-Semitic and frankly antisocial act is clearly consumed by self-hate. When apprehended by New York's Finest, I hope the punishment will serve as a strong deterrent to any punk thinking of copying these actions." More at ABC 7 New York Pawtucket, Rhode Island - After a rash of recent graffiti tagging that has blighted buildings in the industrial districts and other neighborhoods, the City's Department of Public Works devised a multi-pronged strategy to identify, track and map graffiti incidents.
According to detective Edward Berube, "if it’s not removed quickly, it sends a message that it can fester … . The objective is identifying new graffiti, quickly removing it and using the documentation” More at ProvidenceJournal.Com Salt Lake City, Utah - A North Salt Lake graffiti tagger was arrested after police detectives were able to match graffiti tags with 150 photos of graffiti tags posted on the taggers's facebook page.
"As a graffiti artist, it appears that he was pretty proud of his work,” Gwilliam said, "They want to be recognized to a certain extent for their work. They are, generally speaking, very proud of what they do." More at Deseret News Colorado Springs, Colorado - A rash of vulgar graffiti tagging in Colorado Springs has gottent worse as the weather has gotten warmer.
"The way we count graffiti is every tag would be $54.11," explained Mark Davis with the Graffiti Removal Team, pointing towards graffiti on a wall. "So if we were to cover that up, sandblast it off is how we would do it, $54.11 and we probably did 50 of them today." More at KOAA.com Santa Barbara, California - After a four month investigation and good of detective work, Santa Barbara law enforcement were able to identify and arrest a graffiti tagger. He has been sentanced to 180 days in jail for his graffiti damage. Success is due to the detective assigned to the investigation who had experience with gang related issues.
More at Santa Barbara Independent Tucson, Arizona - Mario Figueroa is a man on a mission. This 62-year old spends his time cleaning up graffiti from his Tucson neighborhood. The City of Tucson spends approximately $750,000 abating graffiti.
Tucson Officer Stephanie Brown estimates that most of the taggers are 14 or 15 years old. Spray paint is readily available depite a Tucson city ordinance which prohibits spray paint to minors, According to Tucson City Spokesman Michael Graham says, "When you're spending three-quarters of a million dollars to eradicate graffiti, I'd say we have a pretty big problem out there." "That's money that, from the general fund, that could have been used to improve city parks, or other city infrastructure. instead, that's going for graffiti abatement." More at News 4 Tucson Within days of the Boston Marathon Bombing, community residents have been shocked and outraged by the appearance of a series of swastikas graffiti tags on church building.
More at Boston Globe A twelve year old was arrested for causing over $15,000 of damage in Murrieta, CA.
More at The Press Enterprise |
AuthorFrom Clean City Innovation Graffiti Watch Archives
August 2015
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