St. Paul / 4 men charged in 2 graffiti incidents

Maybe the academic art offerings were just a bit too limited. Three Macalester College students were arrested on suspicion of tagging buildings and signs with graffiti throughout the surrounding neighborhood, ...

[St_Pauly_Girl]

Macalester students! Even rich white kids do stupid things.....I hope they throw the book at this little hoodlum

[Red Ryder]

did it read "give piece a change" ?

[Parnelli Jones]

One way to curb this type of vandalism is to make sure the individuals who did this pay and pay dearly for their crime.
These suburban and out of city criminals come into this area and deface private and public property with what they believe is "urban art" and an "artistic expression". They are one of the major causes of the deterioration of a city.
They should be made to clean every bit of grafitti they have applied, pay for any costs the City and private individuals have paid for cleanup, and pay for all court costs incurred in the prosecution of these crimes.
I would hope Clear Channel and all other property owners will bring civil lawsuits for damage against these bottom feeding pond scum lowfifes for any monetary damages they suffered.
It is about time we take a stand against this type of urban terrorism, and that is exactly what it is. These taggers and so called artists should be stripped naked, and spray painted and made to walk the streets with signs stating they are grafitti vandals. I'm sick of people making excuses for them, and sick of seeing their defacement of public memorials, public parks, and private property.
I am sure there will be those who will suggest a "special" place for these sick individuals to exercise their perceived rights to freedom of expression. Now isn't that "special"?
C'mon people, let's start cracking down on this and cracking down with a barbed iron hand.

[Mr Compassionate]

To bad the citizen who saw them or heard them on the ladder should have kicked it out from under them and let them paint the grafitti on the sidewalk with their brains. Oh, my mistake, these miscreants have no brains.

[Mr Comp is a dick]

You guys are silly.
The city won’t let prosecuted graffiti artists clean the graffiti because it is taking jobs away from people in the city. The People that are doing the graffiti don’t have enough money to pay for lawsuits with clear channel. The only was to stop graffiti is to buff it the day it is done so that other people can’t see it and the point is lost. No one is going to tag something if no one else is going to see it.

[John Q]

I'd confiscate that white Volvo if they claimed to be indigent.

[michael P]

1st degree crim damage? they only painted the building (its not like they had blown it up or something) maybe the prosecution should stop trying to make a bigger case out of this than they always seem to do!

[Linda]

michael P wrote:

1st degree crim damage? they only painted the building (its not like they had blown it up or something) maybe the prosecution should stop trying to make a bigger case out of this than they always seem to do!

For once I agree with you, michael. Put them to work cleaning up some graffiti. That's what I did with my son and he still remembers it 15 years later.

[michael P]

thanks Linda!

Malicious prosecution is sometimes described as;
“one who accuses in a vexatious manor …”

It is considered a crime in and of itself-

[nameless]

Yes, these "urban terrorists" definitely deserve squashed brains, a good beating,and being stripped naked for public embarrassment. Sound familiar? I think Americans have a lot more to worry about than a bit of paint on a building. At least some culture is coming out of it. How about you all look into the racism that is going on in America? It's being ignored. Or even police brutality? The torture towards innocent people in Iraq/Iran by America's finest. However, I am sure most of you are too busy just living the American dream to realize that there are bigger things going on out in this world than vandalism.

But yes, strip them naked and humiliate these young hipsters for there horrible contribution to society.

[Carrie]

michael P wrote:

1st degree crim damage? they only painted the building (its not like they had blown it up or something) maybe the prosecution should stop trying to make a bigger case out of this than they always seem to do!

Yeah, let's keep letting kids off with light consequences and then complain about what they do.

They deserve this charge.

[Red Ryder]

It's not "graffiti". It's urban cultural art expression!

[Willie]

Third-world art more like it. Urban blight and squalor.

[Saint Paul Daytons Bluff]

I am glad that some of these people are getting caught, however, it seems only in some areas. Why can they not catch the gang members on all over on the East Side in Dayton's Bluff that are tagging at an alarming rate? It seems like some areas of Saint Paul may be "more important" than others.
Check out this graffiti and this is just in a small area. It took weeks to get some of this abated!
http://picasaweb.google.com/milkmaid/AbatedGr...
http://picasaweb.google.com/milkmaid/Graffiti...

[umd student]

Ya know? I knew Oscar in high school and he was a nice kid. He still is a nice kid. Kids just get caught up in dumb stuff when in college... trust me, I know! I think this is pretty stupid but at the same time... A felony? That is crazy! What about his future? "Ever been convicted of a felony? Check yes or no" He's pretty much screwed for jobs. I think it is a little overboard. Life is rough when the court gets involved though. just my two cents.