Free Republic

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Vandals spray-painted "Obama Smokes Crack" and other hate messages on 60 city vehicles parked across the street from City Hall in downtown Orlando. Investigators said the vandals painted the messages -- which appear to be politically motivated -- after dark Saturday night. Local 6 showed several vehicles covered in different colors with the "Obama" messages. A passing motorist initially spotted the damage and called police. "I'm driving by and every car I see has been hit with spray paint," witness Mike Lowe said. "There is so much damage to them. There are messages written on them and...

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. - Call it poetic justice: More than two dozen young people who broke into Robert Frost's former home for a beer party and trashed the place are being required to take classes in his poetry as part of their punishment. Using "The Road Not Taken" and another poem as jumping-off points, Frost biographer Jay Parini hopes to show the vandals the error of their ways — and the redemptive power of poetry. "I guess I was thinking that if these teens had a better understanding of who Robert Frost was and his contribution to our society, that they...

"Vandals dumped red paint on a downtown veterans memorial Wednesday morning in what police suspect was a symbolic act of protest on the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. "

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- New Haven's Vietnam War Memorial has been hit by vandals for the second time in two weeks. Both times, the memorial on Long Wharf was defaced by a spray painted message touting a violet street gang known as MS-13. Police said the gang, with roots in El Salvador, is not known to be active in New Haven. City officials said they are considering putting up cameras near the memorial to help protect it from future vandalism. No arrests have been made. The city plans to clean the monument on Monday.

Calculating the Risks in Pakistan A small group of U.S. military experts and intelligence officials convened in Washington for a classified war game last year, exploring strategies for securing Pakistan's nuclear arsenal if the country's political institutions and military safeguards began to fall apart. The secret exercise — conducted without official sponsorship from any government agency, apparently due to the sensitivity of its subject — was one of several such games the U.S. government has conducted in recent years examining various options and scenarios for Pakistan's nuclear weapons: How many troops might be required for a military intervention in...

72-year-old fights off man who trashed Christmas decorations BY RICHARD WEIR and DAVE GOLDINER DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS Thursday, November 29th 2007, 4:00 AM A grinch-like robber was nabbed after he attacked a 72-year-old Westbury man as he strung Christmas lights in his front yard, cops said Wednesday. Santos Zelaya, 21, followed Reinaldo Herrera inside his house on Fifth Ave., put a BB gun to his head and trashed his living room tree and biblical figurines, police say. "Jesus, Mary and the wise men all fell to the ground," said Detective Lt. Raymond Cote. "He smashed up the Nativity scene."...

A Hoffman Estates man said Sunday that he is recovering from the minor injuries suffered when he was dragged by a car carrying youths who stomped on and broke pieces of the Christmas display that has illuminated his yard for 17 years. "There was about seven or eight boys just absolutely destroying our Christmas decorations," he said. "Just stomping, ripping and breaking them to pieces." OBrill, 46, of the 4000 block of Winston Drive, said he stood in front of one of the two vehicles that the vandals jumped into. "I got in front of the first car, thinking it...

Vandals have broken into the Musée d'Orsay and punched a hole in Claude Monet's "Le Pont d'Argenteuil", in the latest in a series of attacks on artwork in France. A surveillance camera caught a group of four to five apparently drunk people entering the Paris museum early yesterday morning. An alarm sounded and the group fled, but not before putting a four-inch tear in the painting, Christine Albanel, the French culture minister, said. No arrests have been made so far. After attempting to force open other doors, the intruders managed to get in through a back door, "even though it...

About a dozen lawmakers gathered Thursday to introduce a resolution condemning the recent vandalism of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. “This is really an affront to the men and women who served in the Vietnam War,” Rep. John Carter (R-Texas) said. “I’m pretty damn mad about it.” An oily substance was found splashed on the memorial Sept. 7, according to the U.S. Park Police. The substance, according to the National Park Service, has stained 14 of the memorial’s 140 black granite panels. Carter said more than 100 members are supporting a resolution condemning the vandalism so far, and he hopes every...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Two teenagers were accused of gang-raping a woman and forcing her 12-year-old son to join in the attack, then beating him and pouring cleaning solution into his eyes. Authorities allege Avion Lawson, 14, and Nathan Walker, 16, were among a group of about 10 masked suspects who forced their way into the womanÂ’s apartment in a crime-ridden housing project the night of June 18. The two were being held without bail Friday on suspicion of armed sexual battery by multiple perpetrators, sexual performance by a child, armed home invasion and aggravated battery. Both were arrested...

MILWAUKEE - A group of Iraq War protesters vandalized the windows at the Army recruitment center on Oakland Avenue near the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee campus on Monday night. Milwaukee police had six people in custody and were questioning several more potential suspects. Witnesses say they saw anywhere from 20 to 40 people dressed in black flee from the scene. A Web site posting on Monday said that the act was a protest against the U.S. involvement in Iraq, in connection with Tuesday's fourth anniversary of the war. Torches made from chair legs, fireworks, and black flags were strewn in...

The commies at International ANSWER are scrambling to cover their rears after Vietnam veterans and Freepers announced they were going to defend the Wall from desecration at the ANSWER rally in Washington, D.C. on March 17. ANSWER made the mistake of poking a sleeping giant with a hot poker by announcing they were going to hold their so-called antiwar rally on sacred ground:The March 17 demonstration will assemble at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Constitution Gardens) at 12 noon in Washington, D.C.and march to the Pentagon.The response by veterans, military families and patriotic Americans has been ferocious. The Park Service has...

"During an anti-war demonstration, protesters were allowed to spray paint graffiti on part of the west front steps of the United States Capitol building. FRC Radio correspondent Bethanie Swendsen reports from the Capital grounds."

Anti-war protesters were allowed to spray paint on part of thewest front steps of the United States Capitol building after police wereordered to break their security line by their leadership, two sources toldThe Hill. According to the sources, police officers were livid when theywere told to fall back by U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) Chief Phillip Morse andDeputy Chief Daniel Nichols. "They were the commanders on the scene," one source said,who requested anonymity. "It was disgusting." After police ceded the stairs, located on the lower west frontof the Capitol, the building was locked down, the source added. A second source who...

LONG BEACH, Calif. A statue of Jesus at a Long Beach Catholic church was beheaded the day after Christmas, possibly by skateboarders who had been shooed off the grounds by a priest, it was reported Friday. Skateboarders have been at odds with members of St. Cyprian Catholic Church, at Clark Avenue and Arbor Road, since September over their use of the church's bench, hand rails, stairs and other property for their sport, the Press-Telegram reported. While it is unknown if skateboarders are responsible for the attacks on the statue of Jesus and elsewhere on church grounds, church officials told the...

VANDALS set fire to about 400 cars overnight and police said they arrested more than 250 people, as violence marred France's New Year celebrations. However, a police spokesman said there were fewer problems than in 2005, when youths attacked trains in the Paris region and southeast of the country. 25,000 police were on duty throughout the country during the night, including 4500 in Paris, where the authorities banned fireworks and firecrackers.

Yesterday, Christmas day, our son's car was stolen around 5:30 p.m. as it was parked in front of our house. Christmas morning his girl friend's car was got stolen while parked in front of her house in Palm Springs, and also yesterday a friend's new Volvo in DHS had its tail lights bashed out with some rocks and his neighbor's van window was bashed out with the same rock. I hope your Christmas day was a little better than mine and that of all those affected by the Christmas day vandalism spree. But it is not all happening on Christmas....

WASHINGTON, December 21, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Catholic League is reporting vandalism to nativity scenes across the United States. Figures from nativity scenes were stolen or vandalized in Tucson, AZ ; Millbrae, CA; Mission Viejo, CA; Moorpark, CA; San Francisco, CA; Naugatuck, CT; Waterbury, CT (Jesus was taken, but one of the arms was left behind); Fort Walton Beach, FL; Des Moines, IA; Sioux City, IA; Ammon, ID; Chicago, IL (32 figures of baby Jesus were nabbed-they were later dumped on the lawn of a Catholic church); Jackson County, IL (two incidents); Tinley Park, IL; Floyd County, IN; Fort Wayne,...

Vandals behead N.Y. George Washington statue POSTED: November 10, 2006 NEW YORK (AP) -- Vandals beheaded a statue of George Washington at one of the world's largest cathedrals and left a dollar bill on what was left of the neck, police said Friday. The damage was discovered Sunday at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, near Columbia University, Officer Kathleen Price said. The statue, near the front of the church, is part of a church collection of historical figures spanning 20 centuries. A statue of William Shakespeare represents 17th century, Washington the 18th century, and Abraham Lincoln the 19th...

Repeated vandalism of mosque stirs fear BY BETH AARON AVALANCHE-JOURNAL Members of a Lubbock mosque fear for their safety as vandals have continuously defaced their place of worship. Within the last month, the Islamic Center of the South Plains at 3419 La Salle Ave. has been vandalized at least three times. Between 11 p.m. Monday and 6:45 a.m. Tuesday, someone wrote the misspelled word "Redemtion" in black spray paint and scribbled lines on the sidewalks. "I don't know what is the message they're trying to give," said Faiz Rahman, a member of the mosque and the adviser to Texas Tech's...

What happened to the 50 tons of gold, silver and sacred treasures looted from Herod's Temple following the Roman legionnaires' sack of Jerusalem on Tisha b'Av in the year 70 CE? The Arch of Titus in Rome, erected shortly after the death of Titus who reigned as emperor from 79 to 81, clearly depicts Roman soldiers bearing on their shoulders the golden candelabrum, silver trumpets and bejewelled Table of the Divine Presence which the Roman emperor Vespasian and his son Titus carted back to Rome as trophies of war. Between 75 CE and the early 5th century, the treasure...

Vandals pour paint on Elamite bas-reliefs in southern Iran Tehran Times Culture Desk TEHRAN -- Unidentified men have poured paint on the bas-reliefs of the Elamite Tarisha Temple in the Izeh region of Khuzestan Province, the Persian service of CHN reported on Sunday. In response, the Izeh Cultural Heritage Lovers Society has asked Iranian cultural officials to mobilize security guard teams for the Tarisha Temple, which is also known as Eshkaft-e Salman, and for the nearby Kul-Farah site. The security detail for Izeh’s ancient sites has no means to defend themselves or the ancient sites, society chairman Faramarz Khoshab told...

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (AP) -- A congresswoman's son and three Democratic campaign workers were sentenced Wednesday to four to six months in jail for slashing tires outside a Bush-Cheney campaign office on Election Day 2004. The men pleaded no contest in January to misdemeanor property damage. A fifth worker was found not guilty. "This case had to be a public example of what can happen when you interfere with voters' rights," said Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Michael Brennan, who rejected prosecutors' recommendation of probation for the four men.

Army employees were startled Monday afternoon when a brick crashed through the window of the campus Army Recruiting Station, 73 University Square, around 2:30 p.m. Army officers were in the building when the window shattered, but were unable to catch the vandal. According to Sergeant First Class Bruce Bovenkerk, station commander for U.S. Army Recruiting, the vandalism was not the first of its kind at the Army Recruiting Station. “Our window has been broken many times,” Bovenkerk said. “It’s part of the job. We’ve got insurance and they cover it. So nobody got hurt and nobody got injured. We board...

The heartbroken family of a fallen Bay State soldier was devastated yesterday to find his memorial defaced by callous anti-war vandals who scrawled “Oil” and “Christian Crusade” on a sign commemorating his sacrifice. “I was enraged,” said Lou Petithory, whose son Daniel, 32, was killed in Afghanistan Dec. 5, 2001. “My main concern is that my son’s memory was attacked.” It is a memory that Green Beret Sgt. Daniel Petithory’s parents have struggled to preserve amid the politics over the war on terror. They have stopped reading newspaper editorials and watching TV news shows; not because they disagree with debate,...

OAKLAND, Calif. — Dressed in bow ties and dark suits, nearly a dozen men carrying metal pipes entered a corner store, shattered refrigerator cases and smashed bottles of liquor, wine and beer, terrifying the clerk but stealing nothing. The just wanted to leave a message: Stop selling alcohol to fellow Muslims. In urban America, friction between poor residents and immigrant storeowners is nothing new. Nor are complaints that inner-city neighborhoods are glutted with markets that sell alcohol and contribute to violent crime, vagrancy and other social ills. But the recent attack at San Pablo Liquor — and an identical vandalism...

Menorah destroyed by vandals in Orange County Associated Press MISSION VIEJO, Calif. - A public menorah erected on an Orange County town green to encourage understanding about Judaism and Hanukkah was destroyed by vandals. The 150-pound menorah, which was 15 feet high and 10 feet wide, was placed earlier this month in Ladera Ranch, a planned community near Mission Viejo. One or more vandals struck between 10 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday, cutting the menorah's stem, breaking its lightbulbs, and smashing its stars, said Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Lloyd Downing. He said the incident has been labeled a hate...

Oakland grocers set to fight vandals Police say they will have more details this week in the attacks on two liquor stores By William Brand, STAFF WRITER NATION OF ISLAM minister Tony Muhammad, standing in front of Muhammad Mosque 26 in Oakland on Saturday, says the Nation had no part in the destruction inside two West Oakland liquor stores Wednesday night. (GREG TARCZYNSKI) OAKLAND — The president of the Yemini American Grocery Association said Saturday that grocers have the right to defend themselves if their stores are invaded like two West Oakland markets were hit Wednesday night. The association, which...

Police, baffled by attacks on liquor stores, add patrols Dressy appearance of vandals consistent with Nation of Islam, official in West Oakland says. A surveillance video showing a dozen men in suits and bow ties filing into a West Oakland liquor store and confronting the manager before destroying rows of liquor bottles provides detailed images that could pinpoint the culprits and lead to hate crime charges, police said Friday. The men who smashed up San Pablo Liquor at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday staged an almost identical attack about 10 minutes later at another West Oakland corner store, New York Market, police...

'I Eat Babies' Painted At Central Fla. Church   POSTED: 12:42 pm EDT September 15, 2005 UPDATED: 1:37 pm EDT September 15, 2005   Police in Sharpes, Fla., are investigating a case of vandalism at a Catholic church in which the message "I eat babies to stay young" and other words were spray painted on signs.Officials at the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church located on U.S. 1 north of Cocoa said vandals painted words on their main church sign and a thrift store sign. "We haven't had any problems out here before ... no other run-ins. They also spray painted...

OLD TOWN - Vandals on Sunday evening caused an estimated $10,000-plus in damage at the West Old Town Landfill, police said. Old Town police received a call at 6:41 p.m. from subcontractors who had been working at the site reporting extensive damage to the landfill's main building, scale house and some equipment. When police arrived, they discovered the group of subcontractors, who had been working about half-mile away from the entrance, were locked inside. Vandals superglued the locks on the doors of some buildings. They also broke off a key or other object in the locked chain on the main...

Two teenage boys have been arrested in the Fairfield vandalism and arson that happened outside the home of a dead soldier's family. Early Saturday morning, just a few hours after the funeral of Pfc. Timothy Hines, the boys allegedly stole 20 American flags from the family's lawn and set them on fire under Hines' sister-in-law's car. Police say the boys, ages 13 and 15, were not aware of the significance of the flags outside the home. The boys were also involved with other acts of vandalism in the area that same morning, police said. The teens were released to the...

Vandals are compounding the grief of a Tri-state soldier's family. Not even 24-hours after Private First Class Tim Hines's wife and family said goodbye at his funeral, American flags that had adorned their Fairfield yard were piled beneath a car and burned....

Twenty-four people were arrested Saturday after police discovered spray-painted graffiti on the Statehouse -- messages that authorities said were part of a protest against an extension of Interstate 69. Authorities said the 24, walking away from the Statehouse and chanting about I-69, disregarded an officer who tried to ask them questions about the graffiti shortly before 1 p.m. Other officers arrived, and the 24 were arrested on disorderly conduct charges a few blocks northwest of the building, state police 1st Sgt. Dave Bursten said. The graffiti was found on two exterior walls, two pillars on the interior and in other...

Word comes from Matt May of a shocking crime in Indianapolis. The Medal of Honor Memorial, the nation’s only monument to all winners of the Medal of Honor, has been defaced by vandals. In his blog entry, Matt reports that The memorial was defaced with a spray painted "peace" sign, Valentine-shaped heart, obscenties directed at Indiana governor Mitch Daniels, and the traditional sign of anarchists (a circle with an A inside). Matt calls these criminals “cowards for peace.” I have much stronger terminology for them, but will not publish it here. Repairs will take weeks and cost thousands of dollars....

ESCONDIDO, CA ---- The Vollmar family's nativity scene was destroyed by vandals on Wednesday night at the family's home on West 11th Street, Jan Vollmar said. The family puts up the scene every year as part of a larger Christmas display in their front yard, Vollmar said. The destruction of the scene began on Christmas night when one of three wise men was smashed in the street. "After the first incident on Christmas, we had neighbors approach us and say that they hoped we wouldn't let the destruction make us take down our display," Vollmar said on Friday. "But two...

A "heroic" security guard suffered an excruciating death, being burned alive in an elevator on Christmas while trying to prevent an arson fire from spreading throughout a Queens apartment building. The blaze inside a garbage cart that killed 32-year-old Raymond James was set by two 13-year-old boys, whom police charged with murder yesterday. [snip] Chief Fire Marshal Louis Garcia called James "a selfless, heroic individual who was trying to save lives of people in the building." [snip] At the same time, two boys who live in the building — 13-year-old cousins — were walking around setting fire to Christmas...

Vandals Hit GOP Headquarters in N.Carolina RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Vandals spray painted vulgar messages on the walls of the North Carolina Republican Party headquarters and left a burned effigy depicting President Bush and Sen. John Kerry, police said. Authorities detained several suspects early Saturday, hours after the attacks took place Friday night, but had not filed any charges, police spokesman Jim Sughrue said. A police officer reported Friday that about 100 people wearing masks and gloves were walking down a street near the headquarters, authorities said. The Republican president won re-election Tuesday after a challenge by Kerry, a Democrat....

Well, I’ve said it before and I’ve said it again: As the political left finds itself continually shut out of the halls of power, where they feel they are undeservedly entitled to walk, they continue to become more and more rabid and unthinking in their violent behaviors. Anger makes you stupid, and stupidity breeds mistakes. Case in point: Once again, a local Republican couple find their SUV vandalized by Kerry brownshirts who, foolishly, left a “Kerry/Edwards” bumper sticker on a side window exposed when the Katherine Harris sign that was there was ripped off and left on the ground. Talk...

COLORADO SPRINGS - There have been countless reports of sign stealing during this election campaign from both Republicans and Democrats. A private investigator hired to track down the person responsible for taking Republican campaign signs in one Colorado Springs neighborhood caught the culprit on tape and made a surprising discovery. The woman caught taking down Bush/Cheney and Pete Coors signs turned out the be the wife of the only Democratic state representative from El Paso County. Rep. Mike Merrifield, D-Manitou Springs, confirms that it was his wife who was caught taking the signs. Merrifield said the signs were placed near...

By JONDI GUMZ and CATHY REDFERN Sentinel staff writers Scotts Valley police say they have no suspects in a case of campaign vandalism at the county’s Republican headquarters. A chunk of concrete was tossed through the glass door at 5610 Scotts Valley Drive, knocking down a life-size cardboard poster of President Bush, some time after volunteers locked up at 8 p.m. Friday. When workers returned at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, they found the door frame broken and two windows smashed. "Emotionally it’s a blow," said Jane Armstrong of the Santa Cruz County Republican Central Committee. "I like to believe this is...

Politically-charged attacks escalate the stakes in this year’s hotly contested elections - 10/21/04 When Republican Barry Goldwater and Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson were locked in a nation-dividing presidential battle in 1964, Wendy and Dick Gustafson (he’s a former Eagle County Commissioner) and their family lived in San Rafael, California. One day Wendy was run off the road by a screaming fist-shaker who called her a “John Bircher,” referring to a well-known politically conservative group. She figures it had something to do with her car’s Goldwater bumper sticker. “And that’s the last bumper sticker I’ve ever put on my car,” she...

Vandals have damaged more than a dozen transmission towers in Harris and Montgomery counties during the past two months, causing thousands of dollars in damage and temporarily disrupting cell phone and radio service, authorities said. Nine cell phone towers have been hit in northern Harris and southern Montgomery counties, causing more than $100,000 in damage, investigators said. Many of the towers in Harris County have been struck twice, said Sgt. Jeff Stauber of the Harris County Sheriff's Department. At least five others have been hit in Houston, said John Cannon, a Houston Police Department spokesman. There were two incidents in...

Signs of dirty politics By Tommy McIntyre, Staff WriterVenice Gondolier10/13/2004 Election campaign vandals keep pushing the envelope. But this is the worst year GOP campaign worker and Venice businessman Joe Brower has ever seen. "I just want this known so the Democratic leaders will get their crazies in check," Brower said. "This is the kind of stuff that happens in Bolivia." Sarasota County Democratic Party Chairman Harold O. Miller said he also is upset about the vandalism and Brower's comments. He particularly derided Brower's remark about Bolivia. "He (Brower) is completely wrong and it is shocking to hear him make...

CBS 11, in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, just ran a story about another Democrat Brownshirt attack. It seems that they have now resorted to going after toilets. A man in North Dallas has one of those displays in his front yard. The one that has a sign that reads..."Flush the Johns" with two toilets underneath. According to the report, someone stopped by and stuck the toilets with some blunt object and broke them into several pieces. The report also showed video footage that the man got of someone stopping by to hack the sign. A car slows up...and then you...

Protestors Ransack Bush/Cheney Headquarters In Orlando 2 People Receive Minor Injuries During Protest POSTED: 6:05 pm EDT October 5, 2004 UPDATED: 9:10 pm EDT October 5, 2004 ORLANDO, Fla. -- A group of protestors stormed and then ransacked a Bush-Cheney headquarters building in Orlando, Fla., Tuesday, according to Local 6 News. Protestors Storm, Ransack Bush-Cheney Headquarters In Orlando Download RealPlayer Local 6 News reported that several people from the group of 100 Orlando protestors face possible assault charges after the group forced their way inside the Republican headquarters office. While in the building, some of the protestors drew horns and...

VANDALS SPRAY SWASTIKAS AT HOMES OF BUSH SUPPORTERS Oct 1st, 2004 By: RPW (MADISON) – In one confirmed and two other reported cases of vandalism, the homes of three Madison residents were defaced this week when vandals used grass killer to draw large swastikas on the lawns of the homes, all of which had Bush-Cheney campaign signs on the property. According to one of the homeowners whose property was vandalized, the homes are all within a two-block radius on the city’s west side. Madison police told the homeowner the incident will be investigated as a possible hate crime. The homeowners...

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This past weekend marked the third-year anniversary of the day that changed America forever: the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. More than 3,000 people died on that horrible day at work in New York City and Washington, D.C., and in a field in rural Pennsylvania. Although unspeakably terrible, something good did come of the attacks. Almost all Americans, of all political stripes, banded together in a show of unity not seen in nearly 60 years. People stood in line for hours to donate blood. Money, time and love were generously given. There was more respect for the armed services...

Party Foul: Vandals Target Political Signs Dunn County WI. Aug 27, 2004 Some say political expression went too far in Dunn County. The Wisconsin Republican Party says Bush-Cheney signs were damaged in several counties, including Dunn. "I think there may be some people that have let their emotions get out of control. They should get their own signs and they can print any message they want to... within the law," said Tom Jorgenson, from Menomonie. A Dunn County man is offering a $500 reward to catch who's behind the vandalism. In Rock County, someone drove up onto a yard to...