Hefty fines for vandals

[drdªv€]

FRIDAY AUGUST 19, 2005
By Robert Zullo, Staff Writer

The four local men charged in connection with numerous incidents of vandalism that took place downtown July 21 pleaded guilty to one count of criminal mischief each on Monday in Cranford Municipal Court.

Eric Bonney, 22, Justin Brown, 18, and Kristopher Beck, 18, all from Cranford, joined 18-year-old Garwood resident Robert Scherer before Municipal Court Judge James Bell in a packed courtroom for what would be their first and last appearance in relation to the charges.

At the beginning of the hearing, Bell reminded the four that they faced up to 6 months in prison in addition to $1,000 fine and possible restitution as a result of the vandalism, which took the form of black shadows spray painted township sidewalks, as well as an obscene phrase painted on the wall of Wachovia Bank on North Avenue, "USA=KKK" on the glass doors to St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church Parish Center and "DXM" on a wall at St. Michael's school.

Bonney and Brown had previously acknowledged painting the shadows, while Scherer and Beck admitted to the other graffiti.

Brown said the initial plan only involved painting the shadows and that the group regretted the words on the church, school and bank.

In court, Scherer expressed regret that "USA=KKK" was construed as racist, which he said was the opposite of his intention.

"If anything, it was meant to be anti-racist," he said.

In a previous interview, Brown defended the shadows as "an art piece open to interpretation."

St. Michael's Pastor John McGovern, while upset by the desecration to the church, acknowledged that the meticulously painted shadows "showed some artistic talent."

McGovern has said that the church will pursue the installation of an outdoor surveillance system as a result of the vandalism.

In addition to the spray painting, numerous fliers were also scattered around the downtown, bearing an anti-war, anti-capitalist message written by Bonney. The flier ascribed responsibility for the painted shadows to Interior Decorating, a punk band that Bonney and Brown are in.

Cranford Detectives Chris Polito and Michael Andrews tracked the suspects down by investigating the band name and interviewing witnesses to the vandalism, said Detective Sgt. Gerard Quinn. Charges were filed on Aug. 2.

All four waived rights to a private attorney or public defender and pleaded guilty. Beck contested a separate charge stemming from an incident that occurred at the Aug. 6 Peace Fair when he reportedly was cited by a Cranford officer for drawing in chalk at Eastman Plaza.

Bell said the charge would be dealt with separately.

Before imposing sentence, Bell called the vandalism "unacceptable."

"It's not only irresponsible, it's reprehensible," he added.

In response to a statement that the group was trying to express a different point of view through the spray painting, Bell noted that "you live in a country where you have a right to express your views," though he said he found their views "personally bizarre."

Bell added that the right to free expression did not extend to destruction of private or public property and said that the four were "abusing the right to free speech."

All four received the maximum fine of $1,000, an additional assessment of $155 each, 300 hours of community service, and 60-day suspended jail sentence. The suspension, Bell said, would be contingent upon strict adherence to payment of fines and completion of community service.

"If I find any one of you violating the terms of this sentence, I'm going to put you in jail," Bell said.

Each will also be required to write a 1,000-word essay on the first amendment and free speech.

Despite the fines, the most expensive portion of the sentence may prove to be the "full restitution" Bell mandated the offenders pay to the township and the other property owners affected by the vandalism.

While the paint at St. Michael's and Wachovia was removed almost immediately, the shadows on Miln Street, Alden Street and North Union Avenue, among other locations, seem determined to hang around.

Downtown Management Director Kathleen Miller Prunty, who wrote a letter to Bell on behalf of the township requesting restitution be included in the sentence, said workers are having a difficult time removing the paint from the town's sidewalks.

"Nothing they have tried has worked... right now they're exploring sandblasting and replacement," Prunty said.

She added that the paint has seeped into the porous pavers, making removal complicated.

"I know more now about pavers than I ever really wanted to," Prunty said in frustration. "Pavers are different from concrete, they just absorb the paint."

While she wasn't sure whether Public Works might have to resort to replacing the painted pavers, she noted that sandblasting might be detrimental to the sidewalks.

"You have to be careful about blowing out the compacted sand," that holds the brick in place, she said.

The total cost of the vandalism — which the convicted foursome will be responsible for paying — is unknown, though replacing pavers could get expensive, Prunty said.

"We don't have a tally on what that is yet," she added.

Though the exercise in artistic expression will turn out to be a costly venture for the vandals, at least one friend of the group who attended the hearing breathed a sigh of relief at the decision.

"I'm just so happy they're not going to jail," she said.

http://www.localsource.com/articles/2005/0...43684714667.txt (http://www.localsource.com/articles/2005/08/18/the_cranford_eagle/news/local/doc4304bf8f25b43684714667.txt)

[Ubiquitous]

Oh, and do you use google alerts to get you the news on DXM? I guess I signed up for that a while ago and every time I get an email with the articals in it I see it posted up here. Actually I was thinking about posting this one but decided not to...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1456760/posts
(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)


ROFL

Jeezus, I knew they managed to spell DXM wrong in numberous articals as DMX, but whats up with this now?

http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/n...dger?nun&coll=1 (http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1123133382268620.xml?starledger?nun&coll=1) (the actual artical)

[dooftard]

wow, they are so punk rawk....

[Arm]

Thats pretty fucking harsh for some spray paint. What happens when you waive the right to an attorney. :magnus_grey:

And that Google Alerts on DXM sounds pretty nifty. I'm gonna sign up.

[GangGreen]

big fu'kin deal.the only reason they got the news is coz those suckers got CAUGHT.someone who isnt me :sly: :sly: :sly: spray painted a whole fuckin road infront of this guys house that was a racist and rapist and revealed it to all.(he never got caught for these acts but i knew he did them and i thought it was the right thing for people knew).i like spraypainted the whole story on the road,lol calling him a racist-antichrist-rapist-and finished off with some nifty upside down pentagrams pointing at his house and cross's.

next day the cops came to my house accusing me of hate crimes and religious crimes....said it would put me away for along time....too bad for them im still here! suckers.

[n__u]

Originally posted by GangGreen@Aug 19 2005, 10:22 PM
big fu'kin deal.the only reason they got the news is coz those suckers got CAUGHT.someone who isnt me :sly: :sly: :sly: spray painted a whole fuckin road infront of this guys house that was a racist and rapist and revealed it to all.(he never got caught for these acts but i knew he did them and i thought it was the right thing for people knew).i like spraypainted the whole story on the road,lol calling him a racist-antichrist-rapist-and finished off with some nifty upside down pentagrams pointing at his house and cross's.

next day the cops came to my house accusing me of hate crimes and religious crimes....said it would put me away for along time....too bad for them im still here! suckers.
:shake: You're stupid.

[GangGreen]

Originally posted by nu_+Aug 20 2005, 01:57 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (nu_ @ Aug 20 2005, 01:57 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin--GangGreen@Aug 19 2005, 10:22 PM
big fu'kin deal.the only reason they got the news is coz those suckers got CAUGHT.someone who isnt me :sly: :sly: :sly: spray painted a whole fuckin road infront of this guys house that was a racist and rapist and revealed it to all.(he never got caught for these acts but i knew he did them and i thought it was the right thing for people knew).i like spraypainted the whole story on the road,lol calling him a racist-antichrist-rapist-and finished off with some nifty upside down pentagrams pointing at his house and cross's.

next day the cops came to my house accusing me of hate crimes and religious crimes....said it would put me away for along time....too bad for them im still here! suckers.
:shake: You're stupid. [/b][/quote]
the fuck i am!


what the fuck are you,the defendent of a rapist?

the protecter of the ku lux clan?

i did the right thing-i had a purpse of doing somthing RIGHT and justice needed to be laid down.people like that need to be exposed for who they are and need to be dealt with.

faggot!

[greengovernment]

Originally posted by GangGreen+Aug 20 2005, 09:07 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (GangGreen @ Aug 20 2005, 09:07 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Originally posted by -nu_@Aug 20 2005, 01:57 PM
<!--QuoteBegin--GangGreen@Aug 19 2005, 10:22 PM
big fu'kin deal.the only reason they got the news is coz those suckers got CAUGHT.someone who isnt me :sly: :sly: :sly: spray painted a whole fuckin road infront of this guys house that was a racist and rapist and revealed it to all.(he never got caught for these acts but i knew he did them and i thought it was the right thing for people knew).i like spraypainted the whole story on the road,lol calling him a racist-antichrist-rapist-and finished off with some nifty upside down pentagrams pointing at his house and cross's.

next day the cops came to my house accusing me of hate crimes and religious crimes....said it would put me away for along time....too bad for them im still here! suckers.
:shake: You're stupid.
the fuck i am!


what the fuck are you,the defendent of a rapist?

the protecter of the ku lux clan?

i did the right thing-i had a purpse of doing somthing RIGHT and justice needed to be laid down.people like that need to be exposed for who they are and need to be dealt with.

faggot! [/b][/quote]
The past will never lay down and die when ganggreen is on the case! :nitin:

[deadevilfrog]

Originally posted by GangGreen+Aug 20 2005, 09:07 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (GangGreen @ Aug 20 2005, 09:07 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> Originally posted by -nu_@Aug 20 2005, 01:57 PM
<!--QuoteBegin--GangGreen@Aug 19 2005, 10:22 PM
big fu'kin deal.the only reason they got the news is coz those suckers got CAUGHT.someone who isnt me :sly: :sly: :sly: spray painted a whole fuckin road infront of this guys house that was a racist and rapist and revealed it to all.(he never got caught for these acts but i knew he did them and i thought it was the right thing for people knew).i like spraypainted the whole story on the road,lol calling him a racist-antichrist-rapist-and finished off with some nifty upside down pentagrams pointing at his house and cross's.

next day the cops came to my house accusing me of hate crimes and religious crimes....said it would put me away for along time....too bad for them im still here! suckers.
:shake: You're stupid.
the fuck i am!


what the fuck are you,the defendent of a rapist?

the protecter of the ku lux clan?

i did the right thing-i had a purpse of doing somthing RIGHT and justice needed to be laid down.people like that need to be exposed for who they are and need to be dealt with.

faggot! [/b][/quote]
two wrongs do not make a right
I believe you're being called stupid for your actions apart from what you were reacting to. By doing what you did you are no better than the person you were responding to.

Not to speak for anyone else, that is...

But I can see how stupid fits.

[GangGreen]

this kind of vandalism is not wrong not when its conveying a good message,and it is NOT two wrongs when one wrong heavily outweights the other!you cant compare petty vandalism to RAPE.

and no we can't forget the past either.I dont see africian americans forgetting black slavery anytime soon,i dont see america forgetting 9/11 anytime soon and i sure as hell wont let somthing of this caliber wrong go un noticed either.

fuck the beast and fuck evil!

[deadevilfrog]

Originally posted by GangGreen@Aug 20 2005, 10:04 PM
this kind of vandalism is not wrong not when its conveying a good message,and it is NOT two wrongs when one wrong heavily outweights the other!you cant compare petty vandalism to RAPE.

and no we can't forget the past either.I dont see africian americans forgetting black slavery anytime soon,i dont see america forgetting 9/11 anytime soon and i sure as hell wont let somthing of this caliber wrong go un noticed either.

fuck the beast and fuck evil!
there are other ways of handling this

your logic is warped, by a desire to do good perhaps, or just by letting your anger get away with you...

you are really coming off as pissed, and its not helping to sell your argument

[GangGreen]

anger doesnt mean nothing.anger shouldnt be a factor if your fighting for somthing good or bad whats important is the MESSAGE and what your fighting for.your attitude may come to a close second but really isnt that important.

and my logic is only warped to you because I actually use some pretty logical comparisions that have wronged whoever said those things.

if i was going to go down the two wrongs make a right road i would of done the sinful act of rape back to this guys wive or whatever (God have mercy on that sentence)

and once again you can let certain petty things go that have happened in the past (THEFT,FIGHTS,SHIT TALKING ECT.) but i deeply believe you DO NOT let somthing like what i fight for, go.I consider acts like rape,racism,murder of the wrong kind,wrongful beat downs and robbery deeply negitive and sinful actions. people that get away with these kind of actions and hide their actions in the dark like cowards WILL be known to the public as the people they REALLY are!

If i was a real fuckin jerk i would of torched his and his mommas house down(which i dont condone) but i did the non-violent thing here which i believe is right.

i may come off as a little extremeist with the fuck the beast comment but im just basically saying stand up for what is right and true and what needs to be done in the right situations.

[deadevilfrog]

Originally posted by GangGreen@Aug 21 2005, 12:11 AM
anger doesnt mean nothing.anger shouldnt be a factor if your fighting for somthing good or bad whats important is the MESSAGE and what your fighting for.your attitude may come to a close second but really isnt that important.

and my logic is only warped to you because I actually use some pretty logical comparisions that have wronged whoever said those things.

if i was going to go down the two wrongs make a right road i would of done the sinful act of rape back to this guys wive or whatever (God have mercy on that sentence)

and once again you can let certain petty things go that have happened in the past (THEFT,FIGHTS,SHIT TALKING ECT.) but i deeply believe you DO NOT let somthing like what i fight for, go.I consider acts like rape,racism,murder of the wrong kind,wrongful beat downs and robbery deeply negitive and sinful actions. people that get away with these kind of actions and hide their actions in the dark like cowards WILL be known to the public as the people they REALLY are!

If i was a real fuckin jerk i would of torched his and his mommas house down(which i dont condone) but i did the non-violent thing here which i believe is right.

i may come off as a little extremeist with the fuck the beast comment but im just basically saying stand up for what is right and true and what needs to be done in the right situations.

who are you to decide this person's fate? In the US we let the court system and the jury of peers or a judge decide if someone is guilty and what the appropriate punishment is. Yes our judicial system is flawed but its the only collection of many minds we have to deal with crime. Leaving it up to you is vigilantism which can be very wrong. (have you studied law, law history, ciminology?) Even if you have the right person and they are truly guilty your punishment does not fit the crime. If he did rape, should not he go to jail?

Your hate will be your undoing...

[GangGreen]

If you read what I said you would of noticed I was talking about the bad shit that doesnt get caught by our courts and our law.these people are getting away with this shit,there making there way around the law!!!!!!These cowards need to be brought to justice especially when you know there personality.

I do not hate,i bring the TRUTH.if it was hate I would of just had slanderious lies written infront of his house but it was TRUTH.

This isnt about law.this is about the basis of RIGHT and WRONG of society.this is about universal justice and morality.and most importantly this is about removing evil from our world.im sure we can all agree rapists,racists,murder'rs and robbers with evil intentions dont belong in our society.

[deadevilfrog]

Originally posted by GangGreen@Aug 21 2005, 01:28 AM
If you read what I said you would of noticed I was talking about the bad shit that doesnt get caught by our courts and our law.these people are getting away with this shit,there making there way around the law!!!!!!These cowards need to be brought to justice especially when you know there personality.

I do not hate,i bring the TRUTH.if it was hate I would of just had slanderious lies written infront of his house but it was TRUTH.

This isnt about law.this is about the basis of RIGHT and WRONG of society.this is about universal justice and morality.and most importantly this is about removing evil from our world.im sure we can all agree rapists,racists,murder'rs and robbers with evil intentions dont belong in our society.
If you had greater understanding and you read your words just now you be ashamed.

You have no right to enforce laws or take justice into your own hands.

You do not sound very bright and I don't wish to be rude, nor do you sound old enough to be in a position to even serve jury duty. And that is not to slight the many wise and smart "kids" on the dv. Just you sound very immature.

I can't explain it to you anymore than regardless of what you think there is a right and wrong as defined by our constitution, by our laws, and by how our society works together. I am not saying all the rights and the wrongs make sense to me, but in the case of someone commiting a rape, I do indeed believe the authorities should handle it.

You have done nothing but deface your own community. It is not some a thing of valor, it is a thing of childishness. If I committed crimes and all I got was some graphitti in front of my house I would laugh.

If you got proof, or even if you don't, just report it to the law and be done with it. That is the best you can do.

I don't think I have an snowball's chance in hell of getting through to you so I am just going to stop here.

Maybe someone else can chime in. Or maybe its pointless.

[n__u]

Originally posted by GangGreen@Aug 21 2005, 01:28 AM
If you read what I said you would of noticed I was talking about the bad shit that doesnt get caught by our courts and our law.these people are getting away with this shit,there making there way around the law!!!!!!These cowards need to be brought to justice especially when you know there personality.

I do not hate,i bring the TRUTH.if it was hate I would of just had slanderious lies written infront of his house but it was TRUTH.

This isnt about law.this is about the basis of RIGHT and WRONG of society.this is about universal justice and morality.and most importantly this is about removing evil from our world.im sure we can all agree rapists,racists,murder'rs and robbers with evil intentions dont belong in our society.
You're still stupid.

Please drive-through. :magnus_grey:


By the way, I'm straight. :sly:

[n__u]

Originally posted by deadevilfrog+Aug 21 2005, 03:35 AM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (deadevilfrog @ Aug 21 2005, 03:35 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin--GangGreen@Aug 21 2005, 01:28 AM
If you read what I said you would of noticed I was talking about the bad shit that doesnt get caught by our courts and our law.these people are getting away with this shit,there making there way around the law!!!!!!These cowards need to be brought to justice especially when you know there personality.

I do not hate,i bring the TRUTH.if it was hate I would of just had slanderious lies written infront of his house but it was TRUTH.

This isnt about law.this is about the basis of RIGHT and WRONG of society.this is about universal justice and morality.and most importantly this is about removing evil from our world.im sure we can all agree rapists,racists,murder'rs and robbers with evil intentions dont belong in our society.
If you had greater understanding and you read your words just now you be ashamed.

You have no right to enforce laws or take justice into your own hands.

You do not sound very bright and I don't wish to be rude, nor do you sound old enough to be in a position to even serve jury duty. And that is not to slight the many wise and smart "kids" on the dv. Just you sound very immature.

I can't explain it to you anymore than regardless of what you think there is a right and wrong as defined by our constitution, by our laws, and by how our society works together. I am not saying all the rights and the wrongs make sense to me, but in the case of someone commiting a rape, I do indeed believe the authorities should handle it.

You have done nothing but deface your own community. It is not some a thing of valor, it is a thing of childishness. If I committed crimes and all I got was some graphitti in front of my house I would laugh.

If you got proof, or even if you don't, just report it to the law and be done with it. That is the best you can do.

I don't think I have an snowball's chance in hell of getting through to you so I am just going to stop here.

Maybe someone else can chime in. Or maybe its pointless. [/b][/quote]
I'd have to agree, this argument is pointless. The only reason I called him stupid is not because of what he did (which was chilidish in the first place), but because of the fact that he flaunted it so arrogantly to a harm-reduction community.

That is all I will say, maybe GangGreen will reply with another rant, but I'm done in this thread.

[downitbabydoll]

FUCK i just saw this, ,sorry to bump (FUCK i just realized this is 2005, damnnnn sorry)
I know all these kids :thumbsup:
that's my town!!!

...and i've dexed with one of the individuals quite a few times, oh man good times :pr0zac

in case anyone is wondering: all 4 continue to dex heavily and later formed the band DXM... later changed to Bombing of Aushwitz.
http://bombingof.tripod.com/id5.html