The Ol' "Throwing Paint Cans at Cops is Art" Excuse

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.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on May 10, 2006 9:16 AM

Comments [rss]

bcb

Hey, idiots, Sean's myspace also says his name is KATIE in his 'about me' section. OBVIOUSLY, at least half of his myspace is a joke. I actually know this kid/circumstances of the incident. Stop trying to act like you do.

He is half black, half something NOT white, although I don't know why that matters at all.

A paint can didn't hit an officer- only the paint hit him.

And they didn't throw paint into a "crowded street". It was fucking 5 in the morning.

With that said, yeah, it was a completely idiotic thing to do. But let's be honest- they had to have been drunk out of their minds. Drunk people do stupid things sometimes.

Chris

On myspace it says he makes over $250,000 a year, it sure sounds like he can afford the legal fees.

zincink

I must be ahead of the game cause I remember throwing dried plaster out of the window onto a alley way in art school..not to mention other assorted bad art projects..(not to worry..we cleaned them up afterwards)

I would not call what they did art..but maybe it was considered Dadaism to them..

I have had a screwdriver fall out of an apartment building missing my head by a few inches..stupid kids! ok its not art!

Brightliner

Raj,

I'd rather just whack them over the head with my cane.

What's that, sonny? I can't hear you. Why don't you step a little closer?

MT

Raj: since I am born and raised in NYC I can honestly say something like this has never happened when I was growing up. I've heard of water balloons from a second story window, but never a paint can. I guess we just weren't that stupid way back in the last century.

me again

looks like the kid is half white from his myspace page. which is enough whiteness to reason such stupidity. i feel bad for his half that knew better.

midamerikalass

Umm, correct me if I'm wrong but if a person was hit with that falling gallon of paint, serious injury would occur?

Even the stupid Roanoke news site made light of the officers injury.

What does that tell you?

Just dumb white kids doing stuff they've been doing for centuries.

From the frozen turkey, to baseball batting mailboxes to rocks on highway overpasses.

Only this time, they hit a cop.

And, no, I've never done stuff like this.

Oopsie.

raj

wow, you folks are depressing. yes its exceptionall idiotic, but jesus, i'm sure stuff like this NEVER happened when you were all growing up. or maybe it wasn't over the internet ten seconds after it happened . . .

"emblematic of kids today." are you joking? get your canes and shoo em away next time.

Marilyn

I hate kids.

bill

Typical. The kid was a Bloc Party fan (if his mySpace is to believed, and from his embrace of slavery, Jane Pauly, and Tony Danza that's questionable). Not to mention a Postal Service fan. When will people wise up to the fact that people who embrace such tasteless and derivative music soon lose site of anything meaningful, until they no longer can even descern right from wrong? I'm surprised Pitchfork hasn't organized a benefit concert for these criminazis yet. Disgusting.

And Brightliner, I feel that attitude is more indicative of how the whole of society acts today, not just kids.

Brightliner

This is just emblematic of kids today, like the skateboard story a couple of days ago. Time was when teen rebellion meant, "We'll do what we want, but if you don't bother us, we won't bother you." Nowadays, it's "We'll do whatever we f*cking want, and too f*cking bad if it bothers you."

hiro

hey, look at this: i searched for their myspace profiles! only found one, Sean McGhee's, and guess what? not white.

bonami

Of course, they were white.

Remember the frozen turkey incident in Long Island.

Left a poor woman injured for life.

On a side note, these kids will grow up to be a Letterman with his dropping things off buildings schlick.

Nothing to see here, just dumb silly white boys.

Billy R

#1 agreed. That's whats great/not so great about America, everyone's entitled to a defense no matter how stupid it is.

They should also toss that lawyer off the roof too.

ajax

These kids are probably white. Black kids usually mug people but white kids do crazy stupid shit like throw paint off buildings and say it's good for everyone's health. CRAAAZY.

Tim N.

I agree, Jen... next time you want to go all Yoko Ono with a can of paint, try it out in your own town first before you think about playing the big time.

Toby

Art doesn't involve throwing things off of tall buildings at the police.

Hopefully they will get charged with attempted murder of a police officer. That will show them!

Another Brick in the Wall

Waiting for Ecko to come to their defense. Once again the NYPD interferes with artists' freedom of expression!

[4] Posted by: Another Brick in the Wall | May 9, 2006 09:19 AM

What are the odds? I jokingly predicted this defense yesterday. Let's see if Ecko can come through with the bail money, as Mickster has suggested!!

mickster

NEWSFLASH: Mark Ecko just posted bail for them ;-)

But seriously, even art has to be safe...survey says XXXXXXX Circle gets the square. The question is moot. Who gets the shiny red car? I get the shiny red car.

S.D.

Wow, that is an Original Defense!

Or that Lawyer is just on Crack...

Mt

What a load of horse s**t! Since when is throwing things off a high rise roof and endangering people on a crowded city street below art? If they had killed someone would it still be art? If they were intentionally targeting the police, they should be charged the same as anyone who attacks a cop in New York. They were being drunk, stupid kids and they should seriously be chucked in The Tombs for a while for being so utterly reckless.