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It’s Those Eco-terrorists — Why Now?
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It’s Those Eco-terrorists

The Washington Post thought it was important that people know that a Hummer Owner Gets Angry Message.

The guy bought a used Hummer and parked it on the street because it was too big to fit in the garage and two masked men slashed the tires, broke the windows, and scratched an environmental message in the paint.

I don’t know what the charge is in DC, but in the law I enforced, Penal Law of the State of New York the guys would be charged with violating:

Section 145.10 Criminal mischief in the second degree

A person is guilty of criminal mischief in the second degree when with intent to damage property of another person, and having no right to do so nor any reasonable ground to believe that he has such right, he damages property of another person in an amount exceeding one thousand five hundred dollars.

Criminal mischief in the second degree is a class D felony.

Which means, if convicted they would be fined, have to pay restitution, and could be sent to prison for up to 7 years, but will probably get probation if they have no prior convictions. It’s a crime against property.

I don’t guess they have any robberies or murders in DC.

4 comments

1 hipparchia { 07.21.07 at 1:52 am }

wellllll…. the neighbor did say she considered it to be a hate crime.

2 Bryan { 07.21.07 at 7:14 am }

Ya know, I would be really torqued if I thought it was done by two guys for no reason other than too much time on their hands. Replacing mailboxes because a car load of jerks just drove through the neighborhood with a bat in their car, is a major PITA. Which is worse – purposeful destruction or random destruction?

3 hipparchia { 07.22.07 at 7:12 pm }

if it stays only on the level of criminal mischief, i suppose the random destruction is a bit more infuriating: no rhyme, no reason, no known foe to fight back at, and golly gee whiz but for the flip of a coin this could have been visited on somebody anybody else other than me. doesn’t matter whether you do fight back against purposeful destruction; just knowing that you could is comforting.

when i wrote that comment i really meant it to read: [7] welllll… hate crime. [/7], but i’m reminded of what happened to my next-door neighbors years ago. what looked at first like a random mailbox bashing eventually escalated into persecution and death threats, all because a middle class black family had the audacity to buy a house in a middle class all-white [up until then] neighborhood.

after that i pretty much relegated mailbox bashing, windshield breaking, keying, house rolling, etc [i’ve survived all those] to the same box of worries as living in hurricane alley. take sensible precautions to protect your stuff, get insurance if you can’t afford a catastrophic loss, and get over it.

yeah yeah, i know, that insurance thingy, it’s getting more difficult every year to find reputable insurance.

4 Bryan { 07.22.07 at 8:49 pm }

Actually, I think there is a difference between hating for things that can be changed and things that can’t.

You don’t get to choose your race, ethnicity, or sexuality. There is nothing you can do about it, no matter how hard some people try. Most people didn’t really “choose” their religion, it’s they way they were brought up.

Buying a Hummer is a waste of money, but trashing one is just as stupid. Four huge tires are going to end up in a landfill, and that is not going to save the planet. It takes energy to create new auto glass, and that will increase greenhouse gases. No one really wants to know about the chemicals involved in a paint job, or all cars would be unpainted.

No one involved in this incident had more than two active neurons firing.