405 Freeway Tagged With 'R.I.P. Osama'
Not everyone in the Southland was popping champagne, flying flags out the sunroof and swapping Obama's the Man memes following last night's triumphant news from Washington -- that al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden had officially been eradicated from the face of the Earth. (Woot woot! Proud to be an Amurrican.)
Orange County Register Osama love?
But another Orange County someone, instead of Tweeting or blogging or however the kids are supposed to react to the national news item of the decade, took to defacing a freeway barrier with his (or her!) confusing, possibly pro-terrorist agenda.
Look what showed up as the sun rose over the 405 this morning:
The tag stretched 50 feet across the freeway barrier, located "just south of Springdale." For the rest of the photos, see the Orange County Register's slideshow.
SAM GANGWER, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The Register and the Los Angeles Times called the tags a "memorial," interpreting the message as supportive of the terrorist leader's "un-American" tendencies.
But we're not so sure: Might the tagger just have been trying to tell Osama to "Rest in Peace Forever" -- as in, don't even think about coming back? And couldn't the upside-down flag have been calling him out for his un-American-ness instead of backing it?
Whatever the numbskull's intentions, the Register quickly spotted the "art" and posted photos, at which time morning commuters began to take offense and report the filth to the CHP.
"We investigate graffiti regardless of the content," CHP officer Denise Quesada tells the Weekly, adding that it's not her place to judge what the tagger meant. Vandalism is vandalism, hateful or not.
However, at this time, "I don't believe we have any leads," she says.
What do you think it means? Do we have a member of the brotherhood lurking right here beneath our noses in SoCal -- or is this just some dude with sloppy grammar?
[@simone_electra/swilson@laweekly.com]
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