How hopeless.
Street artist Shepard Fairey, who is famous for creating the “Hope” poster for Barack Obama during the 2008 presidential election, is being met with felony charges in Detroit, Michigan, for allegedly pasting graffiti on properties in the city without permission, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Police filed the warrant Friday, accusing the artist of causing $9,105.54 in damage by posting at least nine separate posters illegally around town. Fairey faces two counts of malicious destruction of property, and his crimes could get him up to five years in prison and upwards of $10,000 in fines.
Fairey, who is based in Los Angeles, was visiting Detroit in May to paint his largest mural yet — an 18-story piece on One Campus Martius for the company Bedrock Real Estate Services — on commission. However, in advance of his trip, the artist warned that he would also “do stuff on the street without permission,” indicating that he intentionally broke the law.
Such behavior is not unusual for Fairey, who has faced arrest over 15 times for defacing public property.
Police warned that they will take Fairey into custody when he next travels to Detroit, refusing to absolve him from his crime because of his status in the art world.
“Just because he is a well-known artist does not take away the fact that he is also a vandal,” insisted Detroit Police Sgt. Rebecca McKay. “And that’s what we consider was done, in these instances, was vandalism.”
If he does eventually face arrest, Fairey will likely get no help from President Obama. During an interview last month with Esquire, Fairey said that Obama has not even come “close” to living up to the “hope” message conveyed by his piece.
Luckily for the street artist, he is “currently traveling out of the country,” according to a spokesperson, and can thus avoid both arrest and Obama’s failed leadership.
H/T Politico
