Posted on 04/17/2006 10:50:00 AM PDT by Battle Hymn of the Republic
SANTA CRUZ — Vandals struck at least six sport utility vehicles Saturday night on the Westside, slashing tires and spray-painting politically charged messages such as "Oil equals blood" and "Guzzle" on the side of the vehicles, authorities said.
One of the victims, Andrea Muzzi, who lives in a house at King Street and Berkshire Avenue, said she saw a group of 30 to 40 young men on bicycles ride away after using a knife to slash the four tires on her brand-new GMC Yukon, which was parked in front of her house.
The incident happened about 10:30 p.m., she said.
"I heard a 'pop-pop' noise and came out of my house," Muzzi, 32, said. "They were all riding 10-speeds and wearing black trenchcoats."
Muzzi speculated, based on the ages of the riders, that they were UC Santa Cruz students.
Several other vehicles near Muzzi's house also were painted and vandalized.
Police said Sunday that the case is under investigation, but Sgt. Mike Pruger said he had few additional details to offer.
No arrests had been made as of Sunday night.
"The vandalism appears to be directed toward owners of SUVs," Pruger said. "We have no idea who the suspects are."
Three years ago, the radical environmental group Earth Liberation Front was accused of tagging 60 SUVs all over town, including brand-new vehicles at the North Bay Ford and Lincoln Mercury dealerships on Soquel Avenue.
Those vandals tagged SUVs with "No War," "SUVs suck" and "No blood for oil," among other messages, apparently to make a point that the vehicles burn more oil than cars and that America's dependence on oil was the impetus for the war in Iraq.
The group often calls for nonviolent property damage as a means of protest.
In August, a 19-year-old was prosecuted on 30 counts of vandalism, including the slashing of tires on several cars.
Muzzi said it could cost several hundred dollars to replace the tires on her Yukon.
"I've lived in this house for 12 years," she said. "I shouldn't feel nervous to park in front of my own house."
Muzzi did her best to wipe off the "Oil for Blood" message painted on her car Saturday night and replaced it with her own.
In white spray paint, she wrote: "Die UCSC."
I bet those spraypaint cans were just loaded with CFCs.
The headline suggests Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, but this description tells me it must be Keanu Reeves.
Save SUVs! If the Government does not get involved...SUVs will be at risk for extinction! I demand that our government create an SUV reserve, so these cars of nature and exist with out threat from man!
Some SUV owner will shoot one of these punks and be in a lot of trouble.
Nope. The industry has shifted to other propellants.
Hate crimes don't extend to the type of car you drive.
If you think "chevys suck", you are welcome to paint that on someone's car with no further charges (outside of the vandalism).
If you think "homosexuals suck" and paint in on the sidewalk in front of someone's home, you will face charges of being a "homophobe" hater and of public obscenity in addition to the charge of vandalism.
The former is also true of political beliefs (Bush voters in 2004 had swastikas painted on their homes by vandals). Obviously we still need to afford some groups protection under hate crimes legistlation. Oh wait, that was the desired goal to begin with, to establish protected groups of liberals (not the rights of all citizens).
Ah, here we go. Yeah, what concerns me is whether they brought the cans of spray paint to a recycling center after they were done with them or just threw them away.
Bang.
How long before these slimes start attacking people? They sound pretty violent to me. Of course if that starts happening they will have plenty of defenders.
30-40 creeps in black cycling gear riding deraileurs and tagging their hearts out over SUVs.
Ummm? Let's see? Do ya think the local cops might know who these guys are?
(Let the gal with the lost Yukon know that it was the best day in my life when my wife's Yukon ran away with the stable boy....$90 bucks a tank full is a lot to lose.)
Ah, here we go. Yeah, what concerns me is whether they brought the cans of spray paint to a recycling center after they were done with them or just threw them away. 'cause they probably didn't.
"Five years ago this month, Jeff Luers set fire
to three SUVs at a dealership in Eugene, Ore.,
to protest America's heedless contributions to
global warming. He was promptly arrested and put
on trial for arson."
"Refusing to plea bargain, as his accomplice did,
and with a past record that includes 30 days in
jail for a scuffle with a U.S. Forest Service
agent, the then 22-year-old Luers was sentenced
to 22 years and 6 months in prison, the longest
sentence ever handed down in America for
environmentally motivated sabotage."
"The FBI estimates that in 2002, about 100 acts
of ecoterrorism, which the agency defines as
"the use or threatened use of violence of a
criminal nature against innocent victims or
property ... for environmental-political
reasons," are perpetrated each year. Though
these acts have included spectacular actions
such as the 1998 incineration of a ski lodge
in Colorado and a number of more recent SUV
torchings..."
"He says being in prison "sucks," but he has
no regrets about what he did because he believes
in a "higher law."..."
College professors probably.
Another successful class project from "Activism 305"
maybe the local residents can tag the bike riders with their SUV's next time.
Then a nice spray painted outline on the ground.
Really folks, somebody paid for those cars, and it wasn't your parents.
Send the perps to Gitmo with the other terrorists.
Read Tom Clanct's "Rainbow Six."
Clanct's = Clancy's
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