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Last week, we brought you news of the exploits of Grammar Man.
This week, our report from the graffiti wars originates from this side of the Atlantic.
After a nearly six-year bender of vandalizing hundreds of utility poles throughout Pinellas County, Fla., the so-called “Graffiti Grandpa” was picked up by police last week and charged with felony criminal mischief, news reports say.
But based on the alleged “message” of his tagging campaign, he might just claim the status of a political prisoner.
Charles Wesley, 71, was spotted by a witness tagging a pole in an abandoned lot, the St. Petersburg Times reported. The witness notified authorities and deputies trailed Wesley to confront him regarding his tagging spree.
Some confusion arose regarding his mysterious calling card, “SLA.” Many believed it stood for Symbionese Liberation Army, the 1970s group responsible for kidnapping newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst, reports indicated.
A neighbor of Wesley’s however, told deputies Wesley meant the letters to represent “Sane People Liberated Army,” a political group that he asserts will rescue America when the economy collapses, news reports said.
Wesley may be the only member of this fringe political “movement.”
“He’s proud of his new party,” Pinellas County sheriff’s Sgt. Tom Nester told the St. Petersburg Times.
“Wesley railed about corrupt government to deputies and told them his group was formed by God. In his sleep, he said, the Lord appointed him the 24th Elder,” the Times story said.
The senior citizen is not the first “old school” vandal in the country who has used light poles as a medium for a message. In 2009, a 73-year-old was arrested in Los Angeles for posting stickers on area buses, light poles and street signs, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Watch a Florida ABC affiliate news report on Graffiti Grandpa here.
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