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The Ol' "Throwing Paint Cans at Cops is Art" Excuse
By
Jen Chung
Published May 10, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published May 10, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Gothamist loves art. But we also love public safety. So when we hear that one of the dopey kids who visited New York City and hurled paint cans from the roof of their 17 floor hotel - and hurled them at a police precinct, no less - has a lawyer who says they were just being artists, because they are art students on an art class field trip to visit art museums and art stuff in arty New York, well, Gothamist just wants to throw up. Because if a bunch of New York artists threw paint can missles at their Virginia hometown police station, we doubt the art defense would fly. The Post says Tyler Moore's lawyer, William Alford, explains, "I think that it had something to do with the fact that they're artists. It was an expression of what they deemed to be art...It was an art-class trip. He's an art student... They didn't really mean any harm, even though it was a very foolish thing to do." The Manhattan DA's complaint says that a can hit a patrol car on East 51st Street and then paint splashed into a window, injuring an officer inside. According to the police, Moore and his cohorts, Sean McGhee and Brittany Goldberg, seemed to have been drinking, though their teachers do not believe that. The students' school board will meet to decide whether to expel them.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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