Was it written in coloured chalk? Because that stuff was forged by Lucifer himself.

Apparently from TFA at least they're prohibiting actual commercial advertisers too. Around me there's places where they try to go after "graffiti" people for writing some messages or ads for their next club meeting, but will let big landlords use spray chalk to put ads out.

Also apparently from TFA the guy didn't use spray chalk stencils. I can understand places that want to ban that just because it DOESN'T wash away with just one or two regular rainstorms, the stuff lasts ages.

Sybarite: I saw some new graffiti on a dumpster I pass each day. It had the anarchy "A" symbol, which I get, but above it in the same spray paint was written "THAT'S ENOUGH" and "STAY DOWN" which really have me puzzled.

Those messages are intended for Oscar, and believe me, he gets it.

So somebody was defacing property and he got caught for it. This is news? I guarantee the army of people screaming about how it's "art" would change their tune if it were their job to clean it up (though a job is a foreign concept to anyone like that).

Why the fark do people have to deface public property?

Tatsuma: Just because you have a lot of money doesn't mean that you are not going to have to worry about getting fired

Lots of rich people live overstretched and such financial hurdles would prove really bad.


Oh wait I mean fark the one percent

Trolling the wrong thread, Tats?

TravisBickle62: Why the fark do people have to deface public property?

because they are douche-nozzles and hate your freedom.

Sure, the law technically bans "advertising." (It was created decades ago to prohibit businesses from painting promotions on public property.) But the city has decided to define "advertising" as any writing designed to "portray and communicate a message."

lol wut

You don't have first amendment rights anymore, and never fool yourself in to believing that you do.

TravisBickle62: Why the fark do people have to deface public property?

Because it's the sitties ass hole

and ass holes must be VIOLATED>

ALL OF THEm.

xl5150: So somebody was defacing property and he got caught for it. This is news? I guarantee the army of people screaming about how it's "art" would change their tune if it were their job to clean it up (though a job is a foreign concept to anyone like that).

Wouldn't that make said property defacer a "Job Creator"?

Quick! Get him a tax-break!

It was cuter and just as "profound" when these people were writing "War is not he answer"

HotWingConspiracy: Sure, the law technically bans "advertising." (It was created decades ago to prohibit businesses from painting promotions on public property.) But the city has decided to define "advertising" as any writing designed to "portray and communicate a message."

lol wut

You don't have first amendment rights anymore, and never fool yourself in to believing that you do.

Not to defend the city, but just to devil's advocate it based on the poor journalism... he apparently wrote more than just "justice equals liberty":
Just before Christmas, OPD arrested 25-year-old Timothy Osmar for "writing or painting advertising matter on streets or sidewalks"

The criminal "advertising" in question?

Slogans like "Justice Equals Liberty."

Did he also include his website URL, and does he sell t-shirts with his slogans on them through the site? If so, it is technically advertising.

That said, it's unlikely the cops had a chance to check out his website or anything first. But I'd be interested in hearing what other slogans were there in addition.

No one wants to look like the idiot who stops and cocks his head sideways to read shiat written on the ground. If you want it seen, don't write it on the ground, dummy.

If the culprit has the mental capacity of a seven year old then I agree they should not have arrested him, but if he has the mental capacity of a normal adult then he should stop writing stuff on sidewalks.

Blues_X: That's going to be an expensive stupid decision.

Sure hope so, especially now that it's news. ACLU...and away!

Pavement art can be VERY dangerous.

What about the utilities that use paint to locate underground cables? That communicates a message and lasts a lot longer than chalk..

/perp's Bert's mugshot

Romans to the house they go?

WGJ: What about the utilities that use paint to locate underground cables? That communicates a message and lasts a lot longer than chalk..

And what about using painkillers for their intended purpose.

scottydoesntknow: xl5150: So somebody was defacing property and he got caught for it. This is news? I guarantee the army of people screaming about how it's "art" would change their tune if it were their job to clean it up (though a job is a foreign concept to anyone like that).

You know what cleans up sidewalk chalk?

Rain. It's free, requires zero labor to produce, and LITERALLY falls from the sky.

In Florida's climate, it could have lasted there for day.

Demonstrator James Hill said the group had been writing slogans on the sidewalk, such as "We are the 99 percent" and "Justice equals liberty" for most of the afternoon.

According to a police report, officers gave Osmar a warning but he continued to write on the sidewalk. The report shows that officers contacted the department's legal adviser and were told that an arrest for writing on the sidewalk with chalk was lawful.

Hill said officers arrested Osmar as he drew the down stroke on the letter "v" in revolution. Moments earlier, Osmar had written, "This is not graffiti. It's democracy," Hill said.

It's an interesting question... City's wrong, but do you appeal it up to our current SCOTUS?

I did five years in a Texas Juvenile Detention Facility for drawing a hopscotch course on the sidewalk in front of the courthouse. I was waiting for my dad to get through traffic court, found the chalk, and set to drawing. A few minutes later, a hard ass cop grabbed me by ear -- hard -- and lifted me off the ground. I was scared and in pain, so I kicked out, striking him in the groin. He dropped me on the ground, but before I could blink, he maced me point blank in the face. And he didn't stop holding down the trigger until the canister was empty. My vision is still blurred to this day.

I had just turned thirteen, but they charged me as an adult - defacing public property, resisting arrest, assault of a law enforcement officer. The original sentence was two years, but once you are in, they find ways to keep you. When I turned 18, they sent me to state prison for another three years. I wake up most nights and think I'm still there.

Now that I'm out, I feel like I'm 80% animal.

Hipster cops make ironic arrest.

/douchebags

spentmiles: drawing a hopscotch course on the sidewalk...
I had just turned thirteen

Well, there's your problem. Hopscotch is for kids aged 5-10.

Walker: If writing on the sidewalk with chalk is illegal I know a lot of little kids in my neighborhood who are going to be doing some hard time.

Where have you been? Link (new window)

Cops are also on the lookout for an insane terrorist cult, who keeps chalking strange diagrams of boxes and numbers on sidewalks. If you see any such activity, please taze the offenders and notify law enforcement immediately.

he should have just peed on it to wash it away, then TPTB would have a real reason to arrest him.

The law bans any writing intended to "portray and communicate a message." So if he had just been making abstract, random markings with the same chalk, in the same place, he'd be OK, right? It's all about the message, apparently.