Teenager in Trouble for Gluing Posters of Obama as Joker
Have fans gotten a bit over the edge?
A Florida teenager is being charged with felony vandalism for gluing posters of President Barack Obama as the Joker on public property. What seemed like a small prank or an expression of opinion cost over $800 to remove the posters on property, along with $200 to remove a single poster from a mailbox.
This may sound like an easily repairable mistake on the teen’s part. Workers had to remove the thick adhesive putty using blunt metal tools, which chipped the paint of mailboxes and wooden frames. After the glue was removed, then the chipped public objects had to then be repainted.
The teenager has not been arrested, but charges may be pressed. Police believe it was not just a single teenager who posted hundreds of the posters all across Los Angeles, but a large group.
When questioned if this impeded on the first amendment, Maria Kayanan, associate legal director of Florida's American Civil Liberties Union Chapter sited the damage of public property. What caused this behavior was a national contest started by the website Infowars.com.
She [Kayanan] also added, "If it was just a poster that didn't cause any destruction, that'd be an entirely different thing."
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