Photo and blog post by John Hoff
Several days ago, somebody went through an alley in the Jordan Neighborhood and hit almost every garage in the alley with graffiti. The skulk-in-the-dark cowardly scum had the nerve to put the word "Warriors" on one garage. On the garage door of one particular citizen--known far and wide as one of the "revitalizer" crowd trying to make North Minneapolis better and safer, and an ardent supporter of Police Chief Dolan--the spray paint said "Bitch."
Across the alley, it said...
...well, you can see what it said from the photo.
I wonder who did this? Hey, let's do some bloggy CSI profiling, shall we?
OK, first of all, they don't believe in law and order. They might even be ANARCHISTS.
Oh, and based on the "5-0" remark, clearly they are anti-police.
So I'm thinking...
Anti-police anarchists?
On a side note:
It's my opinion. So Sue me. You know who you are.
Do they really find it intimidating to spraypaint the side of someone's house or garage? It's rather laughable to me.
ReplyDeleteThey got me, too. I was tagged with "I ROCK". I'm not that annoyed because, really, I do. However, it does remind me of the need to pick up a "We Watch, We Call" sign.
ReplyDeleteThis is a sign of spring in North. Kids spray painting alleys and garages.
ReplyDeleteIf it turns out that it was, in fact, a middle aged white anarchist from another neighborhood who did this, purposefully mimicking gang slang so that the graffiti would be blamed on NoMi kids, then I think he should be called the "Susan Smith tagger."
ReplyDeleteJust make sure the sign is English and Hmong.
ReplyDeleteI had to look up Susan Smith to remember who she was, what she did, etc.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Smith
Hey, all I said was they were ANARCHISTS and ANTI-POLICE. Their age, their neighborhood...I don't know.
If we weren't wasting the cops time with stupid meetings about getting cops who speak Hmong on the day shift and other nonsense they might actually be able to patrol the neighborhood instead of listening to whiners.
ReplyDeleteThese are the same a-holes who support the stop snitching movement. I hate those thugs. Just the other day I saw someone at the Hennepin County Justice Center wearing a stop snitching shirt. It had a MN license plate on the front but with "stop snitchin'" where the license plate number should be.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could have called 311 on him. I bet that intimidated a lot of the people who were there as witnesses to crime.
OK, well, I just find it funny how anonymous people keep making these claims about the "stop snitching" movement, without anything to back it up. I think it's an attempt to make this so-called "movement" more than it is. I don't believe there was any such incident or t-shirt like that.
ReplyDeleteI wish it weren't true John. Just put "stop snitching" into GOOGLE and see what you find. I don't like these thugs any more than you do and I think the we watch we call revitalization movement is winning. But, it would be naive to ignore this part of NoMi culture.
ReplyDeleteOh, yet another anonymous voice with yet another name.
ReplyDeleteThe most evidence I've ever seen of the so-called movement to "stop snitching" are these bullshit anonymous blog comments. Meanwhile, the "We Watch, We Call" signs are EVERYWHERE.
There may be strong 'stop snitching' environments around the world that show up on google, but it ain't happenin' here in NoMi.
ReplyDeleteAnd the thug-hugging fake blog trolls with an agenda are certainly trying to plant the seeds to grow the stop snitching movement. Meanwhile the pan of brownies are baking in the oven so they can hand deliver them to the thugs on the street. And try to rent a slummy apartment to them, two birds...one (ugly ass chocolate) brownie.
Every Dog has his day...he who laughs last laughs best....the cream will rise to the top....it all applies, people,so be patient knowing these punks will not win this contest because they have no staying power.United we will stand whether it is at the forefront or helping out with details and supplying help in the field or back at garrison{thats military folks}.Patience is a virtue so lets be virtuous.We will see progress as we proceed.
ReplyDeleteA serious lack of understanding of Anarchy displayed in this post.
ReplyDeleteYou really shouldn't alienate unnecessarily, John. Some of your best friends might have Anarchist leanings/tendencies. No need to smear a completely unrelated group of people because some kids did something stupid.
John,
ReplyDeleteWhat would I have to do to become a contributor? It seems like you've added a lot of contributors lately and I'd like to get my name on that list.
Actually, the Spokesman-Recorder published a story on the "stop snitching" issue:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.spokesman-recorder.com/news/Article/Article.asp?NewsID=102370&sID=37&ItemSource=L
Basically its one criminal testifying against another in exchange for reduced punishment. So, it doesn't seem to apply to the NoMi revitalization movement to "watch" and if appropriate "call" 311 or 911 in my opinion.
I would characterize the phenom in NoMi as "don't get involved," which is kind of the lazy brother-in-law of "stop snitching." My personal favorite theory is that this attitude is the result of a meme generated from watching too many CSI episodes. But, people with that attitude are leaving and more active neighbors are moving in.
ReplyDeleteSo, like you, I see the "stop snitching" movement represented here as either blog trolls or NoMi residents whose lifestyle is fast becoming obsolete.
As for graffiti, the stupidest thing I ever saw was a few summers back when my alley was hit. One of the vandals decorated a garage with a phone number. Not their phone number, but a phone number of someone who knew who the vandals were and told the police.
An older female relative of someone involved in this business walked down the alley to look a the damage. When she saw the phone number, she sighed, shook her head and walked off at a brisk pace. I suspect the vandals had more to contend with from that lady than from the criminal justice system. Good stuff.
AKL
I gave my alley-side "We Watch We Call" sign to a neighbor on Russell. I'll have it replaced by the end of the day. Our house is at the epicenter of the We Watch We Call phenomenon in our neighborhood. I haven't seen any evidence of a counter movement- none whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteI think its malicious. How much does it cost for a homeowner to remove the graffiti? For me, living from pay check to pay check, it would be a unbudgeted expense and a pain. You work to keep your home up and some punk defaces it.
ReplyDeleteIf someone doesn't want to get snitched on then maybe they shouldn't be doing whatever it is that's wrong.
ReplyDeleteSo was I wrong to call 911 after a young man offered me his 12 yr old prostitute?
I shouldn't have called! That man was just trying to make a living right?
BULLSHIT! If you don't wanna get "snitched" on then don't do ANYTHING that is illegal.
It's common sense. DUH.
And we need to waste our time trying to get a Hmong police officer so that will not have as many problems in the Hmong community if they have someone they can communicate with. I hope one day you need help and you call the cops and they said "Je ne vous comprends pas. Je ne peux donc pas vous aider. désolé"
Eyedea,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100%. You are right to be concerned with the stop snitching movement. Keep snitching I say. The we watch we call revitilization movement is winning.
NoMi still doesn't have a good reputation by any means, and deservedly so. That said, we are improving the place.
Well, at least the vandals got the spelling right -score one for Nomi schools! I can't tell you how sad and pathetic it is when you have to look at graffiti with words like "bich" instead of "bitch" and, my personal favorite "aswhole" instead of "asshole" (and these are two examples that I have personally seen scrawled on buildings and under bridges in North).
ReplyDeleteGranted, like most people with nothing better to do with their time than spray crude sentiments on other people's property, these vandals very probably read and write at about a 3rd grade level, but at least the spelling is proof that they're not full-on functionally illiterate.
-And so you see, my fellow Nomipolitans, every cloud does indeed have a silver lining!
Well, apparently a search on Google does turn up a movement that started in Baltimore a few years back that has spread across the US, but it seems to be limited to the Hip-Hop community (it was supposedly started by a rapper).
ReplyDeleteSomeone has also been using the moniker "stop snitchin" on local forums for many years, it looks like.
You can find "Stop Snitching" shirts at select urban clothiers. I think that anyone wearing one of these shirts should be charged with terroristic threats. Let's see how funny their "stop snitching" terrorism is then.
ReplyDeleteNow that President Obama has the power to kill anyone he wants anywhere, even Americans, and he has the Predator drones to back it up, I wish he would exercise these powers to keep us safe from these thugs. That would be some change I can believe in and would revitalize the neighborhood.
Shamika,
ReplyDeleteBased on your previous comments, I'm not really interested in having you be a contributor to the blog. Feel free to keep commenting and to start your own blog, but I happen to be the owner of this particular soap box and I have final say over who will stand on it.
One comment rejected from the anti-Johnny troll, who actually signed on as his real self.
ReplyDeleteMegan,
ReplyDeleteWhy were you bringing baked goods to the thugs?
Please, stop doing this. We are working hard to revitalize NoMi and we don't want to make the criminal element feel welcome. Next time you see some thugs milling about, call 311 on them, don't bring them brownies.
And try to rent a slummy apartment to them, two birds...one (ugly ass chocolate) brownie.
ReplyDeleteMegan, I know you're referring to my apartment in a round-about way, and yes, it does bother me when you guys mention my building and thugs in the same sentence. Call it ugly all you want -- I don't care -- but please use an actual building WITH thugs living there as your reference. My neighbors are good people (they gave us a ham for Christmas), and my family are certainly not thugs either.
This is what happens when Megan (or anybody else for that matter) doesn't remember to properly use the "sarcasm font" to red flag the use of sarcasm.
ReplyDeleteMegan didn't make any brownies for any thugs. "Making brownies for the thugs while they stand on the corners" is kind of a verbal "revitalizer shorthand" for a certain mindset which is much too sympathetic to thug activity, to the point of actually being enablers.
Or did the previous poster ALSO forget to use the sarcasm font?
"Hello, 3-1-1? Yes, it's Megan. No, I'm not calling about over grown grass, or a damaged chain link fence, I'm calling because there are thugs milling about on the corner, can you please send public works to go sweep up that corner? Thanks."
ReplyDelete(sarcasm font)
Obviously you meant 9-1-1, but since you are trolling around making up various anonymous voices to talk back and forth to each other, it seems like it's getting hard for you to keep things straight in your head.
Sorry Megan, I thought you were really bringing brownies to the thugs.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with Rose though, not everyone can afford to live in a palace. Please try not to be such an elitist. It is insulting to those who have more limited means than perhaps you do.
OK, Keith, I will try not to be such an elitist towards you and your made up identities in your head.
ReplyDeleteIf there's any question of my authenticity (as in, "I am not Keith with a fake account"), I can provide a public Facebook account for you. You can also see some blogs I've had for years -- before I ever moved here.
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather passed away on Thursday, so I've been a little behind on matters.
Megan seems a little paranoid to me. She accuses everyone of being Keith, but also suspects that there are other unnamed conspirators all working together to make north MPLS a safe haven for criminals and slum lords.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your loss.
Keith, I mean "Rose", facebook can be faked too, you know.
ReplyDeleteOK, two can play this game.
ReplyDeleteMy Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ruth.woytsek
Feel free to add me and talk to me if you still don't believe me. I don't bite unless you bite first.
I don't think Keith would waste his time developing a Facebook page (with pictures of family, posts, comments, and whatnot that date back a few years before I even moved here and found this) for the sole purpose of trolling a blog.