Shepard Fairey/Facebook photo
Something just doesn't seem right about all of this.
Renowned street artist Shepard Fairey recently painted a celebrated mural in downtown Detroit. Now, the Detroit cops are going after him big time on felony charges, saying he tagged images on nine buildings without authorization.
(A). Embarrassing? (B). A waste of time? (C). All of the above?
Perhaps this could have been best handled civilly instead of criminally.
Here's the latest:
Robert Allen of the Detroit Free Press reports that Fairey was arrested in Los Angeles after re-entering the county on Monday. But he was released a short time later after Detroit Police decided not to extradite him.
The Freep reports that police are working with his attorney to try to get him to turn himself in.
The Freep reports:
Fairey is accused of causing about $9,000 in damage to nine illegally tagged properties while he was in Detroit last May. He was invited here for commissioned work that included an 18-story mural on One Campus Martius.
Some might argue whether the limited resources of the department might be better spent hunting down people wanted for outstanding warrants for murder or rape.
Just a thought. -- Allan Lengel
