Why are kids & adults being arrested for using sidewalk chalk. (map)

Over the past five years, at least 49 people in 16 American cities have run afoul of authorities for coloring things with chalk. The vast majority were arrested in connection with drawing designs or messages on public streets or sidewalks. Those accused of chalk vandalism range from the "Chalking 8"—who were asking for trouble when they drew anti-cop slogans on the wall of the police station in Manchester, New Hampshire—to six-year-old Natalie Shea, who received a New York City graffiti warning that carries a possible $300 fine for marring her stoop in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood with a blue chalk scribble. (A spokesperson for Crayola, the leading maker of sidewalk chalk, did not return a phone call seeking comment.)

The war on chalk's most active front as of late has been Los Angeles, where police have arrested numerous chalk-wielding Occupy LA members on vandalism charges. Last month, the occupiers fought back during the city's popular Art Walk by staging their own Chalk Walk, decorating walls and sidewalks with slogans such as "Arrest corrupt bankers, not chalkers" and "When chalking is a crime, only criminals will play hopscotch." 

This map includes details of chalk-related arrests in the United States since 1991—all those we could track down, in any case. (New York, Los Angeles, and Denver have multiple entries, so you'll need to zoom in to see everything.)

To view the map, click on the link below:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/08/war-chalk-arrests

Slideshow "the war on chalk:http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/the-war-on-chalk

The war on chalk.

Over the past five years at least 49 people in 16 American cities have drawn the ire of authorities for coloring things with chalk. Most were arrested for sketching designs or writing messages on public streets or sidewalks.

On Saturday in Madison, Steve Books, a long-time Veterans for Peace activist, wrote "This is far, far, far from over" in chalk on a sidewalk next to the Capitol building. As a result, he was taken away in handcuffs by Capitol Police and issued a citation for “conduct otherwise prohibited” under Wisconsin Administrative Code 2.14 that in Books’ case carries a fine of $205.05.

The response by authorities to Books’ heinous powdery crime is consistent with a nationwide trend that some are beginning to call “the war on chalking.” Such a trend also may be an indication that the U.S. is moving closer towards fascism.

The war on chalk is not only targeting political activists. Jan Pepperman of Brooklyn, NY was issued a warning letter from the city ordering to her to “PLEASE REMOVE THE GRAFFITI FROM YOUR PROPERTY” or face a $300 fine. The graffiti in question was a chalk drawing done by her six-year-old daughter on the front stoop of their Park Slope residence.

Then there is the case of Susan Mortensen in Richmond, Virginia. In March, Mortensen was arrested for allowing her four-year-old daughter to draw on rocks with sidewalk chalk at a local park on Belle Isle. The vandalism charges are expected to be dismissed, but first the 29-year-old mother will have to perform 50 hours of community service removing the weeds around 200 boundary posts near the James River, then scraping and repainting them.

Mortensen told a local TV station that her daughter is now "very nervous around cops" and "very scared of chalk."

Back in Madison on Sunday, chronic Capitol protesters and hard-core chalk insurgents defied authorities and filled the sidewalks with messages such as:

· Watch out, we’re packing chalk

· If money = speech, what does chalk equal?

· WI pays Chief Erwin $99,000 per year to arrest sidewalk chalkers. It’s Working®

· WI Capitol Police Palace Guard: To Intimidate and Harass

· I ♥ free speech – don’t you?
 http://www.examiner.com/article/the-war-on-chalk