“Banks that own the foreclosed homes are reluctant to pursue the perpetrators, Krotic says, because they don’t have the resources to hunt down the miscreants. Even if they’re caught, the unwanted publicity from their prosecution would likely incite more parties.”
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‘Sharpie Parties’ Fuel Rampage on Foreclosed US Homes
* Teenagers get invitations to vandalism parties, descend on foreclosed homes
* Invitations posted on Facebook, Twitter
* Homes wrecked with “Sharpies,” arrests made
By Tim Reid
LOS ANGELES, Aug 16 (Reuters) – In the age of Facebook and Twitter, a new crime has hit America: “Sharpie parties,” gatherings of party revelers armed with “Sharpie” magic markers and lured by social media invitations to wreak havoc on foreclosed homes.
Five years into the U.S. foreclosure crisis, Sharpie parties are a new form of blight on the landscape of boarded-up homes, brown lawns and abandoned streets. They are also the latest iteration of collective home-trashing spurred by social media.
At least six Sharpie parties were reported in one California county in recent months, where invitations posted online drew scores to foreclosed homes.
Rest here…
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Personally, I don’t see much wrong with it…I think they just need to focus their energy abit more and start using their talents to tell folks what is going on. Young people have a stake in this too…many of them are probably displaced, angry about the economic situation and the entire desperate energy that permeates our society right now. They need to say WHAT IS WRONG, WHO IS RESPONSIBLE, WHY THIS HO– USE IS VACANT, WHAT HAPPENED IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD WHEN THIS HOME WAS FORECLOSED ON AND WHO IS NOW MISSING THEIR FRIENDS. WHERE DID THAT FAMILY GO? WERE THEY FORCED TO LIVE ON THE STREET? OR IN A MOTEL? ARE THEY NOW PART OF THE DISENFRANCHISED SOCIETY THAT SCHOOL CHILDREN HAVE TO BE PICKED UP AT THE MOTEL ENTRANCE? DID THEY HAVE TO MOVE INTO A TENT CITY SOMEWHERE? ARE THEY NOW PART OF THE MILLIONS OF AMERICANS WHO NO LONGER HAVE HOPE? DID TH EOWNERS OF THE HO– USE COMMIT SUICIDE? THESE ARE THE STORIES THESE YOUNG ACTIVISTS SHOULD BE TELLING..IF I WAS BRAVE ENOUGHTO DO THIS TYPE OF ACTION, I WOULD BE DRESSED IN CLOTHING THAT PROTECTS MY IDENTITY AND WEAR A MASK AND VIDEO TAPE THE STORIES THAT NEEDED TELLING…FROM THE REALITY OF WHAT I KNOW…MY VIEW…THEN I WOULD POST THOSE VIDEOS ALL OVER YOUTUBE SO THE COUNTRY CAN GET THE MESSAGE THE MAIN STREAM MEDIA IS NOT WILLING TO ALLOW OUT IN THE PUBLIC’S PURVIEW… THAT IS WHAT I WOULD DO…IF I WEREN’T SO OLD AND SO HOPELESS…:-(
sharpie vandals are being prosecuted while Corzine and other banking criminals
who have stolen millions of dollars are not.
that is the sorry state of american (in)justice.
It’s an outrage HSBC Bank USA hasn’t had its U.S. banking licenses revoked for money laundering.
Bank crime shouldn’t pay.
When the folk have no hope, they sometimes turn to artwork. Magic markers will never equal the damage inflicted by a monstrous financial system. These machines of predation have turned entire neighborhoods into blighted wastelands, and they don’t care.
Can’t condone this type of behavior and artists should use more effective modes of dissent, such as those of painter Alexander Schaefer.