Tag Archives: graffiti

Misdemeanor charges — and Capitol Hill SODA zone ban — for suspect in ‘war on graffiti’ helicopter chase

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No felony charges have been filed in the gunpoint arrest of a wanted tagger who was chased through the streets of Capitol Hill by a Seattle Police K9 unit and the King County Sheriff’s Guardian One helicopter late last month.

CHS reported here on the Tuesday night manhunt pursuing Montrell Shawn Clifton that stretched along Harvard Ave E with officers swarming the area as the law enforcement helicopter tracked the suspect from above.

SPD later said witnesses had reported Clifton pointed a gun in a confrontation near the building home to the Broadway Market QFC leading to the heavy-handed pursuit. Police were unable to locate a firearm. After his arrest, police say Clifton claimed the gun was a lighter. Continue reading →

That helicopter manhunt over Capitol Hill? It was part of Seattle’s war on graffiti

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Tuesday night’s arrest (Image: @douglasm69 with permission to CHS)

Seattle Police have made it clear they are familiar with the suspect the King County Sheriff’s Guardian One chopper, a police K9 unit, and multiple officers chased across Capitol Hill Tuesday night before making a gunpoint arrest.

But SPD hasn’t said why they know the man, a veteran of Mayor Bruce Harrell’s war on graffiti, so well.

While he hasn’t been charged in the latest arrest, police have been chasing Montrell Shawn Clifton for years. Continue reading →

Seattle sues ALURE, LABRAT, and NOMAS — and makes them famous — over alleged illegal tagging

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From the city’s lawsuit against the man police say is the NOMAS tagger

“LABRAT”

Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison says her office has filed civil lawsuits against “three prolific taggers responsible for thousands of dollars in damage to private and public property in Seattle.”

The suits are the first under legislation from the city attorney’s office passed by the Seattle City Council this summer opening the way for Davison to pursue civil damages for “criminal graffiti.”

Davison says the ordinance could hit the defendants with a “civil penalty of up to $1,500 per graffiti violation.” Continue reading →

‘Let the people have rat’ — Work party restores Cal Anderson Park mural

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A symbol of Capitol HIll’s “Hot Rat Summer” has been restored — partially — on the historic Cal Anderson Gatehouse.

Dedicated neighbors, artists, and two members of the Seattle City Council gathered on the hottest day of the year so far to restore the surprisingly radiant rat mosaic after the city painted over it in what some are calling a bureaucratic blunder and others see as an act of erasure.

“It’s such a beautiful mural that’s taken so many hours,” said Bug, a Vegas transplant new to the city, who showed up solo to help uncover the piece. “Just to cover it up, like, out of spite? It didn’t make sense to me. Especially in a city that’s so filled with art.”

Bug, who said they first saw the mural on Instagram and later learned it had been painted over through Reddit, wasn’t the only one moved to act. Other dedicated mural appreciators were there. “I just came and did it on my own,” Bug said. “This is the second time I showed up to uncover it.”

The mosaic mural was painted on the side of the landmarked Seattle Public Utilities Gatehouse building above Cal Anderson’s reflecting pool. It has became a source of neighborhood pride in the spunky expression of a neighborhood dedicated to having a good time despite any hard times and challenges. That made it all the more surprising when city crews painted over it.

Seattle City Councilmembers Joy Hollingsworth and Alexis Mercedes Rinck joined residents Wednesday to help gently scrub the white paint off the rat. Continue reading →

Seattle doubles down with threat of $1K fines for ‘prolific taggers’ — Meanwhile, ‘Hot Rat Summer’ mosaic to be restored

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(Image: CHS)

Seattle is doubling down on illegal graffiti, adding possible $1,000 fines for tagging in the city.

The Seattle City Council voted 7-1 Tuesday to approve legislation allowing the Seattle City Attorney to bring “civil actions against prolific taggers,” “with the potential to receive some restitution and for graffiti-related property destruction.” Convicted taggers would also remain subject to criminal penalties. Only citywide councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck voted against the bill.

“Council’s vote today sends a clear message: Seattle’s tolerance for illegal graffiti has expired. Stop vandalizing our city or we will hold you accountable,” City Attorney Ann Davison said in a statement on the approval. “There are many prolific illegal taggers and once the ordinance becomes effective, I will be filing lawsuits. Since the fines are imposed for each violation, it should serve as a big wake-up call to those who deface Seattle.” Continue reading →

Proposal would allow Seattle to pursue $1K fine ‘per illegal graffiti violation’

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Seattle Police aren’t busting taggers. The City Attorney is asking for a new tool to crack down on the likes of WESH and DOTCOM without cops including a $1,000 fine “per illegal graffiti violation.”

The Seattle City Council’s public safety committee is taking up the debate Tuesday morning on the proposed legislation from City Attorney Ann Davison and committee chair Bob Kettle that would allow Davison’s office to pursue civil penalties against vandals, taggers, and graffiti artists.

“Many illegal graffiti taggers are known to police and promote themselves on social media but it can be difficult to hold them accountable through the criminal justice system,” the City Attorney’s office presentation on the proposed legislation reads. “The Illegal Graffiti Restitution legislation would provide the City Attorney with new authority to bring civil actions against the most prolific illegal graffiti taggers in circumstances where criminal charges might not be possible.” Continue reading →

City says it had to clean up less trash in 2024 thanks to volunteers and enforcement

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Seattle Public Utilities is out with its 2024 “Clean City” report as it says citizens are volunteering more effort than ever to community clean-ups while its totals for debris collected from the public right of way actually dropped during the year.

“I’m proud we’re doing this work. Keeping Seattle neighborhoods cleaner helps residents thrive,” SPU General Manager and CEO Andrew Lee said in the announcement. “We welcome more residents and community organizations to join us in supporting Seattle’s diverse communities.”

SPU says its crews removed 1,765,421 pounds of debris from 1,550 blocks across the city’s right-of-way in 2024, down 7% from 2023 despite continued increased use of the Find It, Fix It “Service Request Mobile App.”

SPU credits “community engagement and education, enforcement efforts, and collaboration with other City of Seattle departments” for the reduction.

The Find It, Fix It app is focused on issues around cleanliness and rubbish but stats from the show that a bulk of the system’s calls are related to homelessness even though the app’s categories don’t show choices like “encampment” or “tents.” Instead, the calls are frequently reported under general inquiries, or “illegal dumping,” the most frequently used category in Find It, Fix It complaints. UPDATE: In a 2022 update, the app began accepting requests for an “Unauthorized Encampment.” Users are asked to use the category to “Report an unauthorized encampment that includes tents or structures assembled for habitation.” Continue reading →

GRIDE, WESH, and DOTCOM — Seattle officials announce ’34 felony criminal cases against 17 defendants’ in tagging crackdown

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From Make It Rain, a Seattle Graffiti Documentary cited in the investigation

The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is touting the filing of “34 felony criminal cases against 17 defendants” for tagging calling the crime “acts of vandalism that have causes thousands of dollars in damages across King County.”

Officials said this week the charges come after “a months-long effort” from the Seattle City Attorney’s Office, Seattle Police, the King County Sheriff’s Office and the Washington State Patrol to crack down on taggers and the MSP and BTM graffiti crews that work up and down the I-5 corridor. Police say the taggers behind marks including GRIDE, WESH, and DOTCOM are part of the investigation. Continue reading →

Hopes for cleaning up filthy Capitol Hill Station? Sound Transit’s new graffiti-friendly art program and a pressure washing contract

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This bird is not a fan of pressure washing

Workers installing one of the new art panels (Image: Sound Transit)

Sound Transit is hoping a new initiative will help address graffiti at Capitol Hill Station.

Meanwhile, a new $4.7 million contract will hopefully help clean up the filthy facility.

Sound Transit says a new art installation at the west entrance to Capitol Hill Station across Broadway is hoped to be a solution rolled out to its facilities that are “highly targeted by graffiti.”

New art panels installed at the station entrance are part of a pilot project organized by graffiti artist Danny Melbihess to showcase the artform and hopefully cut down on clean-up costs by discouraging tagging elsewhere in the station. “It’s a different approach than hammering down or painting over,” a Sound Transit official said. “Graffiti has always been a thing. We can’t get rid of it entirely, but we can channel it.”

Under the program, Sound Transit says Melbihess “curated a group of graffiti writers” to produce art for the project. Two 6×4 Dibond panels are painted offsite and installed at the west entrance where they will be displayed for a couple months before begin rotated out for new work.

The first in the series features work by artist Aerub.

Sound Transit says it “hopes to create a long-standing partnership and some goodwill with graffiti writers” with the new pilot program. Continue reading →

Seattle free to try to crack down on graffiti after appeal in East Precinct chalk protest case

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Seattle’s lawless days as a graffiti free for all are over after a federal appeals court ruling in a Capitol Hill free speech case.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has overturned a 2023 ruling that the city’s vandalism laws were unconstitutional in a case over arrests made in 2021 over chalk and charcoal messages scrawled outside Capitol Hill’s East Precinct.

The messages are a frequent and continuing protest method near the 12th and Pine facility and outside Seattle Police Department facilities across the city.

The previous ruling forced the city to back off prosecution for graffiti or tagging while City Attorney Ann Davison’s office appealed the case. Continue reading →