I am so LIVID right now - our family car vandalized by Freepers?

[seventhson]

We have a modest, falling down and tired, American brand ten year old station wagon which used to have "My kid is on the wall of fame at----- elementary school" and which now bears, proudly, Kerry (and Kucinich) bumper stickers.

My sweetness and light wife had to make a dash to Walmart (I know I know, but the big bags of cat food are cheap and we feed all the cats in the neighborhood - at least 13) to feed the thundering and mewling hoards before we both went off to work yesterday morning.

At the end of the day my nine year old pointed at our rear license plate and said "Uh-Oh! Daddy look!"


I can still see the finger marks in the dust underneath where HALF my license plate used to be: someone had actually gone to the trouble of twisting my license plate off so that my expiration date sticker is gone and the plate is not readable.

Mind you - my Kerry bumper stickers are inches away from this plate.

My wife waxed philosophical: "It's a good sign. It means they are worried."

But I think it feels more sinister. It is gut wrenching and it makes me fearful of the tactics these monsters and their minions may use as election day approaches. Like BROWENSHIRTS they are using the violence of vandalism to intimidate and I am concerned that it will grow.

This is in the suburban NYC area.

I wanted to post about this last night and kind of mulled it over for awhile. I can SEE the four finger marks in the dirt underneath where my license plate was - where the ripping took place - almost like the finger marks left on the throat of a strangling victim. It is unnerving. What if my wife had encountered one of these bastards?

Isn't this terrorism of a Bushzi variety?

I only really became livid about it after reading the news today that someone dug up about the chidlren atrocities in Iraq perpetrated by Bush and Cheney.

THIS kind of hideous and murderous evil is what is being perpetrated by those who would vandalize my care for having several Kerry bumper stickers.


Please tel me I am overreactying and that things are NOT going to get uglier.

Try to read this thread and tell me that:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=671728#672120

[lazarus]

1. if the fingerprints are that evident

The police should have an easy time of finding the vandal(s). I'd make a phone call.

I'm not worried about the brownshirts, to be honest. I grew up in the deep south, and remember having run-ins with the Klan.

Both groups are big on talk, and really impressively aggressive when they outnumber you. But that's it. They're actually cowards and bullies.

[seventhson]

8. It's the backs of the fingers- fingernails

they slipped their fingers under the plate and snapped it off at the bolt on a slant.

no actual prints, just four scuff marks.

[amazona]

27. yeah, the police always say there's a reason they don't take prints

The real reason is that taking prints is expensive. They don't do it for crimes of this nature.

Bummer.

[jukes]

16. lazarus

you're right about the cowardice of these people.


sorry to say, you're wrong about the prints. 1 of my dubious cred's is as a f'print tech.

prints are hard to lift @ a crime scene; hands tend to slip, smearing prints & obscuring the characteristix. metal is a difficult surface to lift from. f'prints are comprised of body moisture, fats & minerals. the best prints come from an absorbent surface; the water is absorbed leaving the fats & minerals behind. a "wet" print draws the water into the dusting medium, making it clump.

most cops aren't evtechs, & the special units won't come out for a vandalism call of little monetary value. small departments or beleaguered road cops may pretend to dust, but will often leave a HUGE mess behind as payback.

add to this: you generally need a perp in custody to compare w/. true, data base is more accessible than it was in my day, but if they've never been popt on a felony (military, etc database is seldom cross checked except in high profile, dangerous crimes) then their prints won't be in the d'base.

don't want to act like a know-it-all, but yours is a common misperception.

[lazarus]

18. my world has been shattered!

You mean they won't call out the entire multimillion dollar-equipped CSI lab to do a full workup? :-)

The impression I got from the original post was that fingerprints were clearly visible. I thought, in that case, that it would be a fairly easy procedure to lift them.

I also think that the vandalism of a license plate takes it beyond a routine vandalism case, but, again, I do need to keep in mind the fact that our police departments have to "triage" their case loads, and relatively minor stuff is going to get short shrift. It's a shame, but I don't blame them, I'd rather they spend their time on the big stuff, anyway.

I guess you can't blow up a single shot from a surveillance camera to see a license plate in the reflection from someone's sunglasses, either, eh? ;)

[jukes]

21. i sense

you might be teasing/baiting me! 'sokay, i can take a joke, also know i come off as a pompous ass, often. sad result of being so goddam knowledgeable. & smart.

:bounce:

[lazarus]

22. No, no

Seriously, I'm not teasing or baiting, and your response was very well taken.

I used to post on the CSI newsgroup, and that was one of our favourite things to nail the show on, the ridiculous way they'd use photographs, etc.

I was just making what, in my mind, was a logical leap, and forgot that not very many other people would get it. Sorry.

:hi:

[jukes]

32. no need, laz

we be cool!


:pals:

[lazarus]

36. hooray team!

Glad it's all good. I'm so tired these days (can't sleep, clown will eat me) that I'm not sure I'm communicating properly anymore.

[lovedems]

2. Vetwife posted yesterday someone shot at her Kerry sign in her front yard

and she has children and a senior citizen living there!

Things look like they are getting ugly. These assholes aren't satisfied with talking about differences in political opinion, they must destroy other people's property.

I am sorry that you were vandalized by a bunch of ignorant thugs.

[jukes]

34. lovedems

as if she hasn't enough grief right now.

how like a freep to indescriminately attack a hero's family. her relative's are fighting while the freep is stalking.


he like's to snipe, bastard shd enlist!

[Radical Activist]

3. They are evil and they will do anything

I had my car keyed because of my Kucinich bumper sticker...or by an ex-girlfriend I'm not totally sure, but I think it was the bumper sticker.

Remember the riot they started to stop the counting in Florida? Sometimes I wonder if the transfer of power will be peaceful this time when Bush loses. Anyway, that doesn't mean we shouldn't hesitate to oppose them. We just have to be stronger, more effective and prepared for whatever they might do.

[luaneryder]

6. I think we may have to be prepared

that the transfer of power be anything but peaceful. As is evidenced in these posts RW's do their evil on the sly, in the dark. Face to face it could be handled differently because most of them are downright cowards. But, when Nov. 3 dawns and President Kerry and Vice President Edwards are announced I do fear daylight violence.

[The Flaming Red Head]

33. my car got keyed without any bumpersticker

And I really, really want a Kerry sticker but I know that'll just be another excuse to come after me, especially at the university that I attend.

[7th_Sephiroth]

4. call the cops immediately

the fingerprints should be useable and you'll have another non-voting republican convicted felon

[molly]

5. I don't know what to say - I would be LIVID and would

call the police immediately.

I buy Costco brand dry cat food - Kirkland. A 25 pound bag is now up to 9.89, but it is Science Diet in disguise. I've bought it for years now and everyone loves it - my cats, the driveway cats, the dog, and the racoons. I buy 4 bags at a time and I always get the same snide comments - "HOW MANY cats do you have?!!!!!". I just say "LOTS".

[Ithuilwen]

9. Raccoons, eh?

LOL! ;)

[molly]

12. They have been coming here for years

before I put up the fence, they used to come into my laundry room and hang out with the cats.

[Jokerman]

7. Hopefully the local cops give a damn.

My car was keyed several years ago and they left complete hand prints on several spots. The local cops REFUSED to even try to get a print. I know this isn't a major crime but its frustrating when "law enforcement" officials don't even want you to report a crime.

They did the same thing a few years later when I took them evidence of someone trying to use my credit card. I even had the address they tried to have things shipped to, the cops said that since I had stopped the deliveries that this was only attempted credit card fraud and not worth their time.

[jukes]

19. not a cop apologist

was 1, don't like cops.

see my post in this thread, re: prints,


on the c-card issue; they lied to you. an attempted crime usu has it's own category in the codes, always of the same class. c-card fraud is a felony everywhere, $ value notwithstanding. so's "attempted". you got some arrogant, lazy pork in your town. i'm surprised they didn't just jerk you off: tell you they were going to write it up, then "code" the response to dispatch & run by the coffeeshop.

you had a valid, actionable complaint against these cops, but you'd have trouble proving it. given your experience, i'd say next time you need deputy dawg, set up a discrete recording device. if you get the run-around, turn them in. to the police chief, in writing, requesting a written response. then put a contact mike on your fone, do not supply a cell #, cells are very hard to record from due to digital interference.

if you have a serious criminal complaint, esp if there's a sig $value attached, you can prosecute &/or litigate if you have evidence of police malfeasance.


BTW, c-card fraud is a federal offense, investigated by the Secret Service.

[noonwitch]

10. This is not about your Kerry stickers, it's about

stealing your plate renewal sticker. This happens all the time-people don't want to pay to register their car, so they cut a plate in order to remove the sticker, or there are people who sell fraudulent stickers.
This happens a lot in my area.

[cmf]

11. I think this might be the case

Especially if he lives in an area with expensive car tabs and his renewal was recent.

[Kellanved]

20. my thought exactly

I've heard many people complaining about it in CT.

[ZenLefty]

13. My car was vandalized once.

And I didn't have any bumper stickers. Perhaps they were upset at my lack of political expression? :shrug:

[NoSunWithoutShadow]

14. I'm sorry about your car

I think your wife is right, they are very worried.

I'm sure you feel violated, but maybe this will help put it in perspective. This from a NYT article about Edwards yesterday:

Reporters often want to know if the death of Mr. Edwards's son, Wade, propelled him into politics, but it is the one question he will not answer. He does not want to be seen as trading on his son's death for political purposes.

Mr. Hickman remembers telling Mr. Edwards that if he ran for the Senate he might find himself the subject of some bitter attacks.

"He said, 'I appreciate your saying all that to me. But I have to tell you, if you have ever had to climb up on the examining table in the medical examiner's office and tell your son goodbye, there's nothing they can do that's worse than that.' At that point, it was clear to me that this was a guy who could endure.' "

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/07/politics/campaign/07man.html

These criminals do not want to lose power and I expect the worst of them and their ilk. It's going to get ugly.

[One_Life_To_Give]

15. Relax

I have heard that people are taking the corner of the license plate to get the registration sticker. The purpose is to put it on another vehicle that they can not afford to register/insure. The state of New York will provide you with a replacement license plate.

[jukes]

17. seventhson

i wish i cd say something encouraging right now, but i'm afraid, depending on your locale, things will get worse.

i'm a yankee living in the rural south. in my tiny subdivision, we're the only atheist/libs; the rest are fundamentalist xian, & i've had yard-intrusions & vandalism for years. as the emotions boil during what is already shaping up to be a contentious campaign, w/all the pompous, jingoistic, faith-based rhetoric, i look for an increase.

i fear my animals may be targeted, since all know how central they are in my life.

i fear i may exceed the law's allowance in protecting them, but i know how to drag brush over my trax.

& i'm afraid that's best-case. if bush loses, imposes martial law, or incites more "patriotism", i think there may be, @ the very least, mob violence. (picture that scene from "gangs of NY")

things cd get very ugly indeed. not foil-hatting, but i think it best for us all, especially those of us that are isolated, to prepare for trouble.


reread, those posting about date-tag theft are quite right. if the bumper stickers were not also defaced, prob just a theft of opportunity. warning to be prepared still applies, if you have yard signs or a local rep as lib.

[tom_paine]

23. You are NOT overreacting and it WILL get uglier

Almost certainly. Whether they are denied or succeed these Totalitarian Monsters will liekly follow the same course of escalation.

Report this to the Police. Purchase a gun if you don't have it. Purchase mace for your wife and perhaps for yourself (these Freeper Cowards don't like Fair Fights, they like defenseless or weak victims, multiple-on-one person attacks, etc.) as well.

If the Busheviks are successful in placing their Loyalists in ALL Law Enforcement positions (or all the ones that matters) the Freeps will begin beating and murdering us as soon as they are sure they will get away with it like the Klan in 1940s Mississippi.


You are correct to be concerned.

Don't be caught by surprise like a German Jew on Kristallnacht. You know what's coming. What history says almost certainly WILL come once the Totalitarian Course has been embraced by the likes of the Busheviks.

You are NOT overracting. A storm is coming. By as many umbrellas of as many kinds asa you can. Learn to use them all.

[jukes]

25. tom_paine

said it before, repeating now. love your style, agree completely w/your predictions.


ck your PM, pls.

[tom_paine]

26. Well, I could still be wrong. I always say it would be the best plate of

crow I ever et.

But when things are like this, prudence demands a person prepare for the most likely scenarios. Unfortunately "Totalitarian Escalation" who's exact details are unclear is definitely the mostlikely scenario.

[jukes]

31. agreed

hope to eff we're wrong. :evilfrown:

[DS1]

24. This was about your registration sticker

Not about your bumper sticker.

[jukes]

29. DS1

hello! just so you don't feel ignored (allusion to past thread/flamewar)





:hi:

[DS1]

35. *smirk*

One day at a time jukes, one day at a time :7

[bratcatinok]

28. It's about your expiration

date sticker. It happens here in small town Oklahoma to cars with no bumperstickers, republican bumperstickers, democratic bumperstickers and Go Outlaws stickers. (Go outlaws-our local high school mascot is the Marlow Outlaws.)

While I know it can feel logical to blame it on the freeper types this time I'm 99.9% sure it wasn't them.

From what I understand from our local police chief there's minor money to be made from stolen tag stickers. They sell them for 5.00 to 10.00 a pop, sell several and then have enough to support their meth habit for a little longer.

We have a meth problem here in rural Oklahoma. One day he and I were talking and he was telling me about some of the weird things meth users do to make money for their next fix. This happened to be one of them that was uppermost in his mind that day because our town of 5,000 had had a rash of tag theft.

[GOPisEvil]

30. It was partly for this reason that TX moved the license stickers inside.

Now our license plate renewals are inside the windshield.

I hope this was about your sticker, and not your politics, but I would file a police report so there is a record of this event.

[UdoKier]

37. Probably not political. People steal plates and stickers...

to put on their own unregistered or stolen cars.

If it was political, it would have been a key to the paint or a hostile message written in the dust on the window...