Vandals burn flags on vets' graves, put swastikas on some

[Plane]

MT is it your contention that ignorant people would not use a swasticka?

[Michael Tee]

<<MT is it your contention that ignorant people would not use a swasticka?>>

I don't broadbrush ignorant people, plane.  Some a them would use a swastika, some wouldn't.  Some know what it is, some don't.  Some like it, some don't.  I don't see ignorance as a moral state of either goodness or badness, plane.  It's more of a misfortune.

[BT]

Shock value is shock value. And there is nothing preventing Jews who worship in Bellingham from having vacation homes on Orcas Island. And there are more than a few synagogues in Bellingham.

and this isn't the first time something like this happened there:

More grafitti vandals sentenced

posted 04/20/05
Two 17-year-old boys were sentenced to 30 days in detention, 150 hours of community service and a year of community supervision after they pleaded guilty in San Juan County Superior Court April 18, 2005. Judge Stewart Andrew handed out the sentences for first-degree malicious mischief and second-degree malicious mischief. They spray painted numerous businesses around Friday Harbor in February. (See story below for more details).

One of the juveniles will serve his sentence in Oregon where his mother lives. He cannot return to San Juan Island without written permission.

A restitution hearing is set for 10:30 a.m. May 5, 2005.
Maximum sentence handed out for graffiti

posted 04/05/05
"Words cannot express the level of disgust and revulsion this court has to any person who put graffiti of this nature on any property," said Judge Alan Hancock in San Juan County Superior Court yesterday. He was sentencing the first of three 17-year-old boys believed to be involved in spray painting racist and obscene graffiti on numerous buildings in Friday Harbor in early February.

One of the suspects pleaded guilty Monday, April 4, 2005. The boy told the judge: What I did was thoughtless and I am very sorry to any one I did hurt. It wasn't meant to hurt anyone - Native Americans, African Americans or Jewish people - in any way." He said he did not paint any of the racist graffiti. He was intoxicated when he participated in the crime and now realizes he has a problem with addiction. He plans to enter an inpatient rehabilitation facility.

Judge Hancock said, the graffiti "brings to mind horrible events of persecution in the history of this country. I think it would strike fear in hearts of these persons. A strong statement needs to be made."

Before pronouncing the sentence, Hancock listened to four community members express their reaction to the malicious mischief.

Barbara Marrett, the driving force behind the Portals of Welcome Project, broke into tears as she recalled seeing graffiti on the Salish House Posts. "Art communicates on a non-verbal level. The violation hits on a gut level. The psychological scar to the community remains." The house posts are installed on Port of Friday Harbor property. "What was done to them was a violation on many levels," she said. "It was a violation to the work, to the artist Susan Pointe, to women and to Native Americans."

Mitzi Johnson, a member of the Portals committee and a Soroptimist, agreed with Marrett's comments. She said, "i do accept that he has stepped forward to accept responsibility. I appreciate that. I hope next time they administer paint, they do so by helping an elderly person - painting their home or fence. Do something positive with their energy."

Friday Harbor Middle School Principal Court Bell found out about the graffiti, which covered walls, windows, doors and rocks at the rear of the middle school and high school, at 6 a.m. when a teacher called him. "When I saw it I was dumbfounded," he said. "The scope was unbelievable." He described the obscenities and racial slurs painted on the buildings. He told Judge Hancock he had to take 22 photos to document all of the graffiti. Maintenance staff worked to cover the graffiti as quickly as possible.

Aware action spoke louder than words, the school staff gathered the students together for an assembly. The photos of the graffiti were shown. "Two hundred students watched in united and stunned silence," he said. "The students felt their school had been violated and created a banner."

He encouraged the judge to deal harshly with the vandals. "Now this community and court can send a clear message that we will not tolerate racial violence. This was violence," he said. "We cannot measure the psychological damage."

Friday Harbor Port Commissioner Brian Calvert was the last speaker. The house posts and the aquarium damaged by graffiti were both on port property. "These acts were not just simple graffiti," he said. "They were targeted at the heart of the community." Calvert believes the way a community reacts to graffiti defines the community. "If it doesn't prosecute, the community falls apart," he said. "If it reacts immediately and strongly, the community thrives. We have an opportunity to define the community."

Defense Attorney Lawrence Delay noted his client had cooperated with authorities, made a full confession and was very sorry. He also stressed his client painted his signature "DZ." and not the inflammatory remarks. "His intent was not to focus disparagement at any ethnic groups," Delay said. "It was thoughtless. I want the court to set aside the racial graffiti and the swastikas."

Judge Hancock said, "We must take action to see to it that we do what we can so these things do not happen again. I am pleased to hear you confessed and in a detailed way. That is some mitigation to what occurred here. While you may not have engaged in vandalism pointed to minorities, you must still be held fully accountable."

The maximum punishment for malicious mischief first-degree by a juvenile is confinement until they reach the age of 21 or the punishment an adult can get 10 years imprisonment and/or a $20,000 fine.

Because the defendant had no prior criminal history, the maximum Judge Hancock could impose was 30 days in detention, 150 hours of community service and one year of community supervision. He also ordered restitution be paid. A hearing is scheduled for early May to determine the amount of restitution.

The two other defendants, also 17-years-old, pleaded not guilty to the malicious mischief charges. One was in custody because of an incident after midnight Friday, April 1, 2005. He is being charged with fourth-degree assault, minor in possession of alcohol, and disorderly conduct for those activities.

Judge Hancock ordered a $250 bond for each of the two incidents. He said, "I find he committed the offense while the other case was pending and that he is a threat to community safety." The bonds are not just appearance bonds but are also performance bonds. This means if he did make bail, it would be forfeited if he violated any of the conditions of his release. The defendant did not make bail and remains in custody. A May 10, 2005 trial date was set.

The final suspect posted a $500 performance bond and was released into his mother's custody. He also had additional charges pending as a result of the April 1 activities. She lives in Oregon and had driven up to be with him at court. He had been staying on San Juan Island with his brother. A June 2, 2005 trial date was set.
Three juveniles to be charged in graffiti case

posted 03/23/05
Three San Juan Island teenagers will be arraigned April 4, 2005 in San Juan County Superior Court as a result of the investigation into the racist graffiti sprayed in Friday Harbor in February.
Town offers $500 reward

posted 02/04/05
The town of Friday Harbor is offering a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the vandals who sprayed graffiti in Friday Harbor this week. The council decided to offer the reward after Town Councilmember Howie Rosenfeld said the graffiti on the wall in the alley next to the Palace theater was done "in broad daylight." He noticed it on his way to the evening council meeting, he hadn't seen it earlier in the day. On Friday, another town resident informed San Juan Islander that Rosenfeld was mistaken. The resident said the graffiti was apparently part of the Tuesday night spree.

Anyone with information about the vandals can call the tip line at 378.HELP. People can also call the sheriff's office at 378.4151.
Port offers reward for info about vandalism; one suspect in custody

posted 02/03/05
Vandals spray-painted racial epiphets and obscenities on vehicles and buildings in Friday Harbor on Monday and Tuesday night. Friday Harbor Middle School and the Native American House Posts at the Port were two of the targets. The Port of Friday Harbor is offering a $500 reward to anyone providing information that leads to the identification, arrest and conviction of those responsible for the damage done to the port property with the spray paint. The reward fund will be administered by the Sheriff's Office. Anyone having information can call the tip line at 378-HELP, or the sheriff's office at 378.4151 or Port Director Steve Simpson at 378-2688. Information given to the sheriff will be kept confidential.

One juvenile was being held Wednesday night on suspicion of second-degree malicious mischief, minor in possession and possession of a controlled substance.
Friday Harbor Middle School
reacts to vandalism, racial and ethnic hatred

By Court Bell, Principal

posted 02/03/05
Friday Harbor Middle School staff and students arrived at FHMS on Wednesday morning to find our building smeared with racial graffiti. Swastikas, anti-black and anti-Jewish slogans and words were painted all over the school siding and windows, on the sidewalk behind the school, and on the concrete walls. Because it was a 'late start' day and teachers work from 7:45 a.m. but classes begin at 9:45 a.m., much of the most blatant graffiti was already painted over by the time students arrived.

The school population was appalled and angered about who would do this. In a first period all-school assembly, numerous staff members told of their feelings as they saw the destruction. We shared pictures of the graffiti with students and put the use of these terms and symbols in historical context so that all students could understand the anger felt by the staff.

Following the assembly, the ASB leaders - Brooke Jangard, Callie Bartlett, Charlotte Guard and Alex MacDonald, put together the attached statement to express their feelings. This statement was signed by 213 students and staff of Friday Harbor Middle School. A banner will hang over the front door on Thursday, February 3rd expressing the feelings of the FHMS community. We call on the entire San Juan Island Community to share our feelings.
Statement from Friday Harbor Middle School Students

posted 02/03/05
We the students and staff of FHMS stand united in our response to the vandalism to our school.

We do not accept:

    * Racism
    * Injustice
    * Ignorance
    * Vandalism

We believe:
# This doesn't represent our school
# None of our students support these actions
# These actions are wrong for our community

We believe if we stand together we can fight against discrimination of all kinds.

This statement was circulated in third period classes after our assembly and signed by 213 students and staff at Friday Harbor Middle School.

http://www.sanjuanislander.com/school_districts/san_juan/graffiti.shtml

[Michael Tee]

Sounds to me like apart from the one kid who was only tagging his intials, the others WERE political, the one guy was motivated enog\ugh to spread the word even while on probation or out on bail (I forget which) and the messages were pretty consistent with a right-wing racist viewpoint.  If they had wanted to make the point that the soldiers were Nazis, why insult Indians as well?  Why deface Indian House Posts? 

This is pretty sick stuff.  These kids aren't going to grow out of anything.  They will grow from teenage Nazis into grown-up Nazis.  It's just too bad they can't be executed now and save everybody a lot of trouble later.

[Plane]

<<MT is it your contention that ignorant people would not use a swasticka?>>

I don't broadbrush ignorant people, plane.  Some a them would use a swastika, some wouldn't.  Some know what it is, some don't.  Some like it, some don't.  I don't see ignorance as a moral state of either goodness or badness, plane.  It's more of a misfortune.

I can agree with all of that .

But my point is that the use of a swasticka does not prove anything about he sophistication or connections of the painter.

The thing is very famous , hardly anyone is so ignorant that they do't know it upsets some people , even those who are quite ignorant otherwise.

[sirs]

I like pinning shit like that on the FBI.  It's something that they're perfectly capable of doing, even if it should turn out that they're not implicated in this particular offence, it's something they've done in the past (not vandalizing graves,...)

So, A, no evidence of them doing this (vandalizing graves), and B no motive outisde of your say so that they've done outrageous things in the past.  Yea, let's not "rush to judgement" there.   

It's also good to remind folks not to rush to judgment when they're told to blame the Left for any particular outrageous act. 

Especially, when objectively, they're the likeliest perpetrators, given the rhetoric & actions involved.  Hey, everyone, look over there !!!

Things aren't always what they appear to be on the surface

Rarely are they.  Yet there's a fine line between the surface and lower levels remark of uncertainty, and the CIA shot JFK from the grassy knoll kind-of proclaimations (or in this case, attempting to broadbrush anything Government or RW as the perps)

and basically you should always keep in mind that it's the Left who are the good guys, they're the only ones who are acting out and speaking out against war, against torture, against indiscriminate killing and raping of civilians, they're the ones who want a better world for everyone.

Yep, as Bt referenced earlier, that was kind of humerous   

[kimba1]

The thing is very famous , hardly anyone is so ignorant that they do't know it upsets some people , even those who are quite ignorant otherwise.

actually it`s a very confusing symbol to some asians.
chinese use it(with good reason)as a image of a falling star.
to see it as a symbol for nazi is quite abit annoying to me
it really is a cool looking symbol that got corrupted this way
india and china should sue ,but theirs nobody to sue.
really a shame.

[Plane]

The thing is very famous , hardly anyone is so ignorant that they do't know it upsets some people , even those who are quite ignorant otherwise.

actually it`s a very confusing symbol to some asians.
chinese use it(with good reason)as a image of a falling star.
to see it as a symbol for nazi is quite abit annoying to me
it really is a cool looking symbol that got corrupted this way
india and china should sue ,but theirs nobody to sue.
really a shame.

I don't suspect that a Chineese , American Indian or Hindu painted this on a strangers gravestone as a sign of good will  , this seems like the unfreindly sort of swasticka.

I have seen this symbol used in an unthreatening way , as a large decoration on a Korean Buddist temple and as a repeating pattern on the face of Herods temple.


http://www.jesusneverexisted.com/militant.htm



While searching the above picture  up I found a book of antique puzzles you might like Kimba. Includeing this



http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16713/16713-h/16713-h.htm
Figs. 8 and 9 will show how to do it, if we further require the four pieces to be all of the same size and shape. This Fig. 9 is remarkable because, according to Dr. Le Plongeon and others, as expounded in a work by Professor Wilson of the Smithsonian Institute, here we have the great Swastika, or sign, of "good luck to you "—the most ancient symbol of the human race of which there is any record. Professor Wilson's work gives some four hundred illustrations of this curious sign as found in the Aztec mounds of Mexico, the pyramids of Egypt, the ruins of Troy, and the ancient lore of India and China. One might almost say there is a curious affinity between the Greek cross and Swastika! If, however, we require that the four pieces shall be produced by only two clips of the scissors (assuming the puzzle is in paper form), then we must cut as in Fig. 10 to form Fig. 11, the first clip of the scissors being from a to b. Of course folding the paper, or holding the pieces together after the first cut, would not in this case be allowed. But there is an infinite number of different ways of making the cuts to solve the puzzle in four pieces. To this point I propose to return.

[kimba1]

thanks I`ve been meaning to test out the ebook function my new mp4 player
not a easy machine to use
and the instructions are in english chinese(english in chinese grammer structure)
not easy to read.
I think I need to convert it to txt format later on.
notepad is not easy to use