The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: Hazcat on August 14, 2009, 09:05:05 AM
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CLERMONT - Clermont police have interviewed one suspect who is admitting to putting up the dozens of posters pasted around the city depicting President Obama as the Joker character from the Batman film The Dark Knight, city officials confirmed.
Assistant City Manager Darren Gray said city officials have an individual "admitting to putting up 500" of the posters.
Clermont Police Capt. Eric Jensen said the male individual has admitted to putting up some signs, but investigators suspect others were involved and their investigation is continuing.
"We have talked to an individual," Jensen said. "He only admitted to some of it...We're still tracking down leads and talking to folks. We have not arrested anybody."
At this point officials are not sure how much damage was caused by the signs or the dollar amount associated with the clean-up.
Dozens of the posters were pasted around the city earlier this week. A pair of the posters were pasted to a Clermont Post Office collection box. They prompted the postmaster to contact the Postal Inspector's office, which is looking at potential federal crimes for defacing federal property.
City officials, meanwhile, are trying to determine what local crimes might be associated with the posting of the images on public and private properties. They've also been busy ripping down the sticky signs because they're a violation of city ordinance regarding illegal signs.
Jensen said he doesn't have a good count on the number of posters put up because, he said, "People are going out and tearing them down."
In a press release put out late today, Jensen said the suspect "also asked if he could video tape the encounter with the officers." Clermont Police declined that request.
"Currently we are still conducting interviews of victims, witnesses, and other suspects who were placing the Obama Joker Poster throughout our city," Jensen said in the statement. "We believe that the postings are the result of multiple suspects. We are hopeful that we can develop enough information to present charges of vandalism to the State Attorney's Office for review."
He did not have a specific reason why the individual who admitted to putting up the posters spent so much time sticking them to surfaces around the city, but Jensen suspects it may have something to do with a contest linked to the image of the President in white face and smeared lipstick, like the Joker.
Check back for more details.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/orl-bk-obama-joker-suspect-081309,0,4959018.story
Comments at link
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victims, witnesses, and other suspects..... charges of vandalism
Why in the hell are they wasting their time on this? Is there not any real crime that they can use their time and resources to pursue, other then this? There is no "there" there. At the most this is a crime of littering, and if that is the case they are singling the guy out unfairly -- signs for businesses and such are tacked up on telephone poles all the time and nothing is ever done about it. This is a disgrace!
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When I was a pro-choice organizer in college I cannot count the number of posters we pasted up. We didn't do it to private buildings though (good libertarian and all). Usually the backs of signs, poles, newspaper boxes and trees. I was also NEVER dumb enough to touch a mail box. Messing with the postal service is just begging for pain. The postal inspectors are just damn scary people with ridiculous amounts of power. I'm afraid our poster boy is going to learn that the hard way, which is too bad.
FQ13
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FQ,
Yeah if ya want to get picky he was wrong, BUT you can see signs on gov't buidings and post office boxes every where.
This is just more Obama thugs trampling out dissension.
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When I was a pro-choice organizer an idiot in college I cannot count the number of posters we pasted up. We didn't do it to private buildings though (good libertarian and all). Usually the backs of signs, poles, newspaper boxes and trees. I was also NEVER dumb enough to touch a mail box. Messing with the postal service is just begging for pain. The postal inspectors are just damn scary people with ridiculous amounts of power. I'm afraid our poster boy is going to learn that the hard way, which is too bad.
FQ13
Fixed it for ya!
And it's OK as a "libertarian" to deface public property? And newspaper boxes are private property, hypocrite!
I agree with ericre12 that this is a huge waste of money. In the meantime, prostitutes are still on the street, drug deals still going down, and corrupt politicians are out to capture this heinous "terrorist" villain. If I were a taxpayer, I would sue the city to stop all pursuit of the poster-hangers - the cops have no legal mandate to catch him, let alone waste time and manpower on this.
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I agree, its free speech as far as I'm concerned. I just think its bad manners to put them on someone's property without permission as wheat pasted posters are a PITA to remove.Light poles and the like are fair game as far as I'm concerned. The Post Office, well as I said they are scary people with zero sense of humor. Always have been, always will be. Messing with them is like trying to take steak away from a pitbull, just a bad idea that is never going to end well.
FQ13
PS as far as newspaper boxes, pasting posters there was customary.
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I agree, its free speech as far as I'm concerned. I just think its bad manners to put them on someone's property without permission as wheat pasted posters are a PITA to remove.Light poles and the like are fair game as far as I'm concerned. The Post Office, well as I said they are scary people with zero sense of humor. Always have been, always will be. Messing with them is like trying to take steak away from a pitbull, just a bad idea that is never going to end well.
FQ13
PS as far as newspaper boxes, pasting posters there was customary.
So are mercenaries, can't have it both ways to suit your circumstances.
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So are mercenaries, can't have it both ways to suit your circumstances.
Hardly the same Blackwolfe. Sorry if I didn't feel bad about putting a flier on a news paper box,posting over some flier advertising a happy hour with a new band. I knew that if I was lucky, my poster would last a day before some other band/group/bar would post over it. Such is life in a college town.
FQ13 who is wondering why we are arguing when we all agree the police response to the postering is excessive and absurd
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Hardly the same Blackwolfe. Sorry if I didn't feel bad about putting a flier on a news paper box,posting over some flier advertising a happy hour with a new band. I knew that if I was lucky, my poster would last a day before some other band/group/bar would post over it. Such is life in a college town.
FQ13 who is wondering why we are arguing when we all agree the police response to the postering is excessive and absurd
Not arguing, just making a valid point. Tradition and custom is Ok when you are making one point, but not OK when in the other point?
I too think it is absurd what is going on about these posters. Treat them all equal in your response.
I personally don't like to see fliers plastered all over the place on everything. Even power poles are private possesions. In my small town there are ordinances regarding this type of thing and it keeps the area clean. Once in awhile someone will go through and put something up, but it doesn't last long. I have never heard of anyone getting arrested for this, but they have made posters remove stuff. Usually it's rummage sale signs. A few years ago someone did go through some neigborhoods and leave some white supremacist fliers on peoples doorsteps. That created an outrage and I think they tried to charge the guy with littering. I don't remember the outcome. I also detest when people put fliers under MY windshield wiper. This happens usually at some type of event and you see dozens of the fliers laying on the ground where car owners remove them and just toss them.
As a side note I have a friend that is a power company lineman and they hate that crap getting plastered all over the poles. In some cases so many nails and staple have been driven into the poles over time that they have had to replace the poles as they became structurely weakened.
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The first news sheets were "Broadsides" pasted on the sides of buildings, this is how many of the writings of the founding Fathers were publicized.
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all of the telphone poles, uitility poles, road signs all have signs on them saying its illegal to post signs on them here, they go after anyone that posts signs. does not matter what the sign says.
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FQ,
Yeah if ya want to get picky he was wrong, BUT you can see signs on gov't buidings and post office boxes every where.
This is just more Obama thugs trampling out dissension.
Bingo Haz.
Funny, I don't remember any arrests when posters of Bush as Hitler were being posted. ???