Thread: 'No more Chinese' graffiti in San Francisco prompts hate crime investigation

'No more Chinese' graffiti in San Francisco prompts hate crime investigation


By MATT HAMILTON contact the reporter


The same three-word message has cropped up in recent days on walls and fences around San Francisco: “No more Chinese.”

Scrawled in orange spray paint, the message has generated disgust and alarm on social media, and police on Sunday said the vandalism has triggered a hate crime investigation.

So far, the graffiti has been reported in at least five locations, including in the Bayview District and in the Portola neighborhood, said Officer Grace Gatpandan of the San Francisco Police Department. Officers have also confirmed the graffiti on an abandoned grocery store and a public playground, she said.

Vickie Chau first posted a photo of a vandalized fence near McLaren Park on Sunday after she said her dad spotted the orange graffiti.

“I’ve seen graffiti in my neighborhood before, but never with this type of message,” Chau told KPIX-TV Channel 5. “Overall, based on the messages I’ve received, the community has been supportive and want to find the culprit.”

It's unclear when the vandalism first appeared. The blog Angry Asian Man found a photograph by Google Street View of a door near Holyoke Street and Silver Avenue that showed the same graffiti about two months ago.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/l...907-story.html

http://www.alipac.us/f12/u-s-communi...ations-322665/

Signs that say "No More Chinese" is not hate speech. Americans have the right to tell our government that we don't want any more immigration and the people in areas with heavy Chinese immigration have the right to address those particular immigrant supporters, aiders and abetters just as people in areas with heavy Mexican immigration have the right to address those immigrant supporters, aiders and abetters.

Crime Prevention:

Graffiti is Everybody’s Problem

Graffiti costs American communities more than $8 billion per year.
It hurts property values, drives away business, and sends the message that nobody cares about the community. Graffiti is everybody’s problem. Here’s what you can do to help.

Pamphlets


Download the printable pamphlet

Report It

• Report graffiti immediately. The sooner it is reported, the sooner it can be removed.
• If you see graffiti in progress, report it—don’t try to intervene. Some places have graffiti hotlines or tiplines, which usually offer anonymity to people reporting crimes.
• Encourage everyone in the community to report graffiti as soon as it happens.
• Contact the property owner whose building has been vandalized by graffiti. Stress the importance of quick cleanup. Form a neighborhood group to help property owners clean up graffiti quickly.
• Take a photo of the graffiti. It may provide information that will lead to identification of the vandal.

Remove It

• Removing graffiti promptly (within the first 24 hours if possible) is the best way to prevent it. Prompt, persistent removal usually results in a nearly zero rate of recurrence. Before any graffiti removal begins, however, find out whether the police want to photograph it as evidence.
• Paint a mural over the graffiti if the site is suitable. Involve the community in painting a mural to celebrate the history of the community or its diversity. (Ask local paint companies to donate the supplies.) Vandals seldom put graffiti on murals.
• When painting over graffiti, save some of the paint for touchups in the event of future vandalism.
• Some municipal governments have guidelines for removing graffiti. Check with your local government.
• Look in the Yellow Pages (under “Graffiti Removal”) or on the Web for companies that specialize in cleaning up graffiti.
• Check your local laws. In some jurisdictions, property owners are given a certain time period in which they must remove graffiti, after which a violation can be issued.

Prevent It

• Rapid removal is one of the best ways to prevent future graffiti. Removing graffiti tells the vandals that people care about the community and that their work has little chance of being seen.
• Plain smooth surfaces invite graffiti. For walls, choose patterned and rough concrete surfaces or tiled or mosaic surfaces; for fences, use chain, lattice, or wooden picket fences.
• Choose paints and coatings to deter graffiti. Dark colors make graffiti harder to see. Antigraffiti coatings are available as well. A sacrificial coating is one that can be easily removed if graffiti artists strike. A protective coating can be easily cleaned.
• Plant trees, shrubs, or climbing vines to restrict access to tempting walls. Plants with thorns or strong scents are good deterrents.
• Use good lighting to deter vandals from popular graffiti sites.
• Encourage community groups to adopt a wall or area to keep it clean, well maintained, and graffiti free.
• Encourage local merchants who sell paint and painting supplies to become responsible retailers. Responsible retailers observe existing laws against selling spray paint and broad-tipped markers to customers under the age of 18 and do not display these items where they might be vulnerable to shoplifting. They post warning signs about the penalties for graffiti vandalism.
• Coordinate a graffiti awareness campaign in your community. Educate potential graffiti artists about the legal consequences of graffiti vandalism: the vandal’s driver’s license may be suspended, and fines—or even jail time—may be the result of future offenses. Victims of graffiti may sue the perpetrator’s parents, and the parents may be fined or ordered to provide restitution.
• Encourage anyone you think might be tempted to do graffiti to check out art schools instead or to get involved by doing posters, murals, and other art projects at their schools.
• Involve the media. Distribute information about the harm graffiti vandalism can do to a community. But caution them not to display the work. Graffiti vandals want their work to be seen and publicizing graffiti only encourages them.
• Contact Keep America Beautiful (www.kab.org) to see what you can do to make your community beautiful and crime free.

https://troopers.ny.gov/Crime_Preven...rime/Graffiti/

California Penal Code § 594

(a) Every person who maliciously commits any of the following acts with respect to any real or personal property not his or her own, in cases other than those specified by state law, is guilty of vandalism:
(1) Defaces with graffiti or other inscribed material.

(2) Damages.

(3) Destroys.

Whenever a person violates this subdivision with respect to real property, vehicles, signs, fixtures, furnishings, or property belonging to any public entity, as defined by Section 811.2 of the Government Code, or the federal government, it shall be a permissive inference that the person neither owned the property nor had the permission of the owner to deface, damage, or destroy the property.


(b)(1) If the amount of defacement, damage, or destruction is four hundred dollars ($400) or more, vandalism is punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 or in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000), or if the amount of defacement, damage, or destruction is ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or more, by a fine of not more than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.

(2)(A) If the amount of defacement, damage, or destruction is less than four hundred dollars ($400), vandalism is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.

(B) If the amount of defacement, damage, or destruction is less than four hundred dollars ($400), and the defendant has been previously convicted of vandalism or affixing graffiti or other inscribed material under Section 594, 594.3, 594.4, 640.5, 640.6, or 640.7, vandalism is punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year, or by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.

(c) Upon conviction of any person under this section for acts of vandalism consisting of defacing property with graffiti or other inscribed materials, the court shall, when appropriate and feasible, in addition to any punishment imposed under subdivision (b), order the defendant to clean up, repair, or replace the damaged property himself or herself, or order the defendant, and his or her parents or guardians if the defendant is a minor, to keep the damaged property or another specified property in the community free of graffiti for up to one year.  Participation of a parent or guardian is not required under this subdivision if the court deems this participation to be detrimental to the defendant, or if the parent or guardian is a single parent who must care for young children.  If the court finds that graffiti cleanup is inappropriate, the court shall consider other types of community service, where feasible.

(d) If a minor is personally unable to pay a fine levied for acts prohibited by this section, the parent of that minor shall be liable for payment of the fine.  A court may waive payment of the fine, or any part thereof, by the parent upon a finding of good cause.

(e) As used in this section, the term “graffiti or other inscribed material” includes any unauthorized inscription, word, figure, mark, or design, that is written, marked, etched, scratched, drawn, or painted on real or personal property.

(f) The court may order any person ordered to perform community service or graffiti removal pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) to undergo counseling.

(g) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2002.

- See more at: http://codes.findlaw.com/ca/penal-co....E7Orlblp.dpuf

Originally Posted by Judy

Signs that say "No More Chinese" . . .

It doesn't say "SIGNS". It says GRAFFITI painted on walls and fences, which is a criminal act for which you can get up to a year in county jail and/or up to a $50,000 fine.

'No more Chinese' graffiti

Scrawled in orange spray paint . . .

on walls and fences . . .

graffiti on an abandoned grocery store and a public playground . . .

https://www.google.com/search?q=%27N...LUJrMfGrAIM%3A

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

It doesn't say "SIGNS". It says GRAFFITI painted on walls and fences, which is a criminal act for which you can get up to a year in county jail and/or up to a $50,000 fine.

That's a property crime, not a hate crime.

If it said NO MORE WHITES or NO MORE BLACKS it would be a hate crime.

And it still doesn't say SIGNS.

It still says GRAFFITI.

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

If it said NO MORE WHITES or NO MORE BLACKS it would be a hate crime.

But it didn't. It said No More Chinese. No different than saying No More Syrians.