Suspected graffiti taggers caught on camera along I-5 in Seattle

[@JeanClaudeJrLefebvreXL]

$1M of cameras LOL, nobody cares if they get caught on camera anymore, as long as there is no accountability there is no solution.

[@wrelensmash]

They admit it in the statement! All they care about is "removing" graffiti. Nothing about jailing the people that do it. If the people doing it were white male Trump supporters they would have SWAT teams arresting people that morning.

[@Mauser1965]

Someday they will eventually having their taxes being wasted once they hopefully become aware of it when they become adults. Yet how many times have we seen people who look to be grown up, but act like spoiled children in traffic having fits called road rage?

[@giuseppe4909]

Seattle…you have much bigger problems than taggers.

[@eastkentmadereak]

Right Lol 🤣😂😂

[@Phuc_Yuu]

Graffiti culture is strong in Seattle. Freewalls wont work. They want notoriety

[@BrandiBentsen]

Get over it. We're forced to look at ads, regardless of the message and intent. I'd rather look at art! Maybe better to focus on what really matters. Make a difference elsewhere. What a waste of time and money

[@stevenvonsancho]

Whats the point of funding cameras but not the police to stop it

[@gregbolton1480]

Cops defund cops more than any other group by violating all Civil Rights of innocent citizens and for making illegal arrests of same innocent citizens. Point your finger at cops 1st for screwing up their own criminal network of illegal activity ??

[@Mauser1965]

Because you comprehend a thing called, "evidence" which is used in judicial system. May never be in an accident, and should you ever experience it that the vehicle has dash camera system.

[@stevenvonsancho]

@Mauser1965 Oh so law enforcement can watch videos the next day of guys wearing black hoodies, bandana's and backpacks painting public property.... got anymore brilliant ideas?

[@pitchforkpeasant6219]

@@Mauser1965yet when cars are stolen, the license plate reading technology thats been around for over a decade isn’t being used to detect stolen cars. So who are the cameras actually benefiting? Cuz it aint us. Bosses car stolen a fourth time. Someone tried stealing my truck. Crime is insane. This system is NOT working

[@notanindianscammer7594]

​@@pitchforkpeasant6219why are you spamming on every comment

[@joemeade3669]

How is this news? I'm a commercial truck driver who starts late nights. My route is through that area, and I see packs of taggers crossing the streets working on large-scale projects all the time.

[@eastkentmadereak]

Ayy thanks for making our world go round boss! Glad you see us out there livin our youth days!!! We see you too, just honk your horn at us Lol

[@TakeASecondThereCowboyAndRelax]

What’s the point of catching graffiti artists when there is legitimate crime going on.

[@e-man5654]

Some of the same people do both. Graffiti is a legitimate crime by the way. It's called property vandalism.

[@eastkentmadereak]

@@e-man5654shut up nerd… get active.

[@Mauipokepoi]

It doesn't make the city look trashy; the city is trashy and that's why It happens!

[@ChrisSchramm-bt8do]

Too blue too long. Vote better or enjoy living in the dump you helped cteate.

[@willong1000]

Ah, the reality of Liberal utopias!

[@lettus143]

your phrasing is a little weird, it absolutely makes the city look trashy. the city IS trash, this is just a symptom of it. the outside matching the inside...

[@markminer7390]

No, we don't need to be "permissive" and give taggers a way to express themselves. If they need an outlet, let them buy canvas or legally paint murals or other artwork. It's vandalism, not art when they spray what doesn't belong to them.

[@larryj1048]

That guy doesn't understand at all. The POINT is to put your mark somewhere you shouldn't. If they wanted to express themselves artistically, there are plenty of legitimate ways to do that.

[@amr8457]

No. As tax payers you DO have a certain right to it. In my opinion. Painting is harmless, mostly. It's just stupid to paint your name or things like that paint something beautiful and creative. Nobody gives a f*** about your name or where you came from or any of that crap.

[@Catapultout]

Spray paint on public spaces shouldnt be illegal. It should be illegal to do such crappy work we call it graffiti rather than street art. The world is becoming greyer and greyer. I crave a pop of color here and there.

[@amr8457]

@@Catapultout I agree.

[@brianfarmer6223]

Artistic graffiti is great, the old man at end gets it. While giving these artists a space would be great, especially for youth that want to do it but not face criminal charges. In Tacoma we had The Garages where it was legal. But for the ones that one it seen, heard, and expressed this kind of art belongs where it doesn’t. That’s their message as artists. No one likes looking at gang graffiti on the side of there building. But if I showed up where an artists threw $300 worth of paint, I wouldn’t be complaining for it to be removed

[@JackCarlock56]

So, the State thinks medium gray is better than the graffiti. So what? As long as the taggers keep their work Off THE SIGNAGE, I am okay with what they're producing.

[@charlesscott1849]

Caught on camera but not caught by law enforcement. Maybe we need to be like Singapore, and start corporate punishment.

[@pitchforkpeasant6219]

Maybe politicians should try enforcing existing laws again

[@notanindianscammer7594]

​@@pitchforkpeasant6219why are you spamming on every comment

[@bball3048mm]

One of my favorite countries because they enforce laws.

[@ETTP.S]

@@bball3048mmthen leave america and go there maybe you and charles can suck each other. Offf when you get there? Get the mayor and the current governor to join u? Eh? Sound like a plan

[@GingerCC-he8be]

It isn't a "need" to express themselves, it's called a need to vandalize and spread violent gang messages. Ignorance and complacency of the public is part of the problem too! I stopped a meth addict who hopped a 40 bus and pulled out her pens to start vandalizing. Another free riding addict started yelling, I yelled back and the driver kicked them off. We have to stop this nonsense, all of us!

[@GingerCC-he8be]

@@johnf1628 😢 punks do cry in the end

[@mossschuttner7555]

Week minded straight up

[@xxxsandman]

which " gang " . looks like they want smoke badly.

[@206Scorpio75]

There's way more things to worry about than some damn graffiti, like mf's smoking pills on metro. You want some kind of praise for stopping some graffiti.

[@deejaydiabolic]

"Spread violent gang messages". You literally have ZERO idea what you're talking about.

[@BrotherMichaeloftheCross]

What is wrong with jailing people for defacing public property?

[@Itsme-mx5tl]

Elections HAVE CONSEQUENCES

[@wrelensmash]

Democrat Judges only seriously prosecute white men.

[@Mauser1965]

Why do people ignore a red octagon shaped traffic control sign?

[@PistonAvatarGuy]

The US already has the largest prison population on Earth and it costs $40k/year to imprison someone.

[@pitchforkpeasant6219]

@@Mauser1965why do people speed when the speed limits are constantly being lowered? Maybe in a hurry to get to their second jobs to pay for the increase in living expenses and the increase in taxes. Sales tax rate just got raised again. Even people living in their work vehicles have to pay that tax increase

[@jarrydjackson361]

Graffiti has been around for ages. It's not going anywhere

[@eastkentmadereak]

honestly i feel like it might die out soon which is sad… new generation new technology… i wish i came up painting in the 90’s.

[@jarrydjackson361]

@eastkentmadereak I hope it doesn't. Some graffiti speaks to the soul because its real people expressing how they feel, and others could be gling through the same. I can't say much for gang tagging and territorial graffiti, but some are really good

[@oneone9884]

Start charging the ones you catch and their parents for the cost. Garnish wages, etc

[@DUBSTEPzMYzFRIEND]

It’s very rarely teenagers

[@shilohmeisler3710]

Total idiocy! Leave the graffiti up. No cameras or cleaning will stop the taggers. Even those that got "arrested" were probably out before they ever even went in! Total waste of money!!!!

[@scoldeddogproduction]

When you clean the graffiti off, that's blank canvas. If the fines were high enough that getting caught was prohibitive, it might subside. But that would take work and WADOT officals don't get a kickback for doing work, only studying and buying camera equipment. WADOT just wants to watch them paint not stop them.

[@AllenOlesen]

Seattle government is too big to clean up problems. There's no money in that...

[@cmk3420]

Put the taggers in jail!! No Free Bail!

[@Itsme-mx5tl]

Elections HAVE CONSEQUENCES

[@GR3YD3ATH]

caught and they do not care because nothing will happen to them. arrest them and make them pay the bill, but no that will not happen... move along.

[@Dontbesosoft]

That still isn't stopping anyone

[@trailerhaul8200]

Our tax is literally being washed away lol

[@PeaceLoves]

on purpose by poc conspiracy who controls govs

[@tomwoehle3519]

Those cameras are very useful to verify that people are doing this. What a great piece of news.

[@pitchforkpeasant6219]

I assume you are being (sarcasm) sarcastic. Tough to tell these days without a label

[@notanindianscammer7594]

​@@pitchforkpeasant6219why are you spamming on every comment

[@tomwoehle3519]

@@pitchforkpeasant6219 Just trying to get people to use there minds without being censored by you tube.

[@redjetsen1002]

it is art if you have permission...otherwise it is vandalism.

[@aiolia7643]

Nothing artistic about that 😂 my 3 year old can do better that crap

[@Chunkyburnerz]

“If you can’t beat ‘em, join em”

[@Marinealver]

So what's the news? They've been there between 11pm and 4am for years now.

[@eastkentmadereak]

Very WRONG!!! we are there at 12-7pm!

[@walawala-fo7ds]

They are already tagging the new light rail retention walls in shoreline and it hasn't even opened

[@istoa22]

Seattle’s graffiti is terrible. A lack of artistic value.

[@YoDz-117]

Agreed. It all looks like a disabled baby missing an arm got hold of a spray paint can.

[@mossschuttner7555]

@@YoDz-117y’all are blind then wtf

[@xxxsandman]

artistic value is to the beholders.

[@ETTP.S]

@@YoDz-117istoa probable has jiz in his eyes and mr dingleberry is probably the culprit with his shitty disabled baby corny insult.

[@Chunkyburnerz]

Lol yeah because there’s too many haters for anyone to even want to try painting something with skill/effort.

[@papugabru8996]

As a graffiti artist my opinion is that these taggers are just artists how does their art harm you? It looks nice guys c'mon

[@pualdupvandoff8199]

It doesn't look nice. It's depressing. As soon as I come out of the Mt Baker tunnel, I want to exit off, turn around, and leave...

[@tanyafrida7380]

How is this news? I see them all the time. Just like I see shoplifting, drug use, drug selling, open urinating, etc. I'm numb to it all. Unless we turn this city at least 50% red, NOTHING WILL CHANGE!!!!!

[@Dvarden]

What an insane comment

[@pitchforkpeasant6219]

@@Dvardenyet dems have done nothing to fix it. The problems only get worse. Doing the same thing over and over and over again expecting different results isnt the definition of insanity. Its the definition of stupidity

[@tanyafrida7380]

@@Dvarden Well insanity runs pretty rampant up here, so I'm not inclined to argue with you.

[@smokiebaer]

I drive through Seattle a few times a night and see this garbage just getting worse everytime. The problem is, no matter how many police, the courts not holding these people accountable.

[@Dr.Dinks206]

RIP G-RIDE

[@pinoygal6232]

One of the easiest problems to solve that Seattle has. No expensive, Orwellian cameras needed.

[@tayzonday]

The part of the population doing this is predictable- males aged 10-25. Maybe they should raise the age to purchase spray paint from 18 to 21. There also need to be more art classes because when it looks good, there’s less need to remove it.

[@eme7305]

"suspected" CLEARLY PAINTING ON THE WALLS💀 Fire someone jesus christ

[@pitchforkpeasant6219]

😂🤦. 🏆🏆

[@Aguilar-1276]

Graffiti is the last thing Seattle should be worried about 😂

[@Internet_Hobo]

Need a place to express it? Prison walls have a lot of free space to tag.

[@eastkentmadereak]

they dont give us our cans or markers goofy 🤣😂😂

[@chasenuuhiwa]

2:10 It's called paper. We don't owe them anything.

[@Michael-y6h9p]

What are they going to do Washington The cops don't do nothing because they're told to let it go

[@RepentantRemnant777]

In a land ran by criminals, is it really surprising that crime is rampant? If you fixate on the symptom and not the cause, you will never cure the dis-ease.

[@twinkie2237]

Higher penalties until it stops. Also, they need to clean/reverse it all for part of their punishment.

[@ResidentOfTheAbyss]

And yet nothing will be done, and they won’t get caught.

[@bradleybruvva3021]

Imagine if they paid just one or two officer to monitor some of these cameras. They could dispatch police immediately to the location..

[@eastkentmadereak]

or worry about the shootings in Renton Kent Tacoma Central District 🤣😂😂😂 and still “no suspects found”

[@ambernesto7733]

Need to pass a law 10 year minimum in state prison.. as a penalty and they won't ever pick up another can of spray paint

[@pitchforkpeasant6219]

Or enforce existing laws

[@DirkDiggler1620]

Lmao. 10 years for painting on a wall? Hilarious.

[@ambernesto7733]

@@DirkDiggler1620 dude millions of dollars of infrastructure ruined every where graffiti . It looks horrible everywhere u look in Seattle

[@jerryinscoe1129]

It's a mandatory 30 year sentence for aggravated first-degree murder in the state of Washington. Have murders in the state, or the city of Seattle, decreased because of the high penalty? No, they haven't. What everyone who doesn't write Graffiti needs to understand is that some Graffiti writers don't care about the risks. All they care about is getting their name up. Not all of them, obviously, but more and more of them don't care about the risks involved. If Washington state made it a mandatory 10 year sentence for a first offense of writing Graffiti I guarantee you the amount of Graffiti you see would barely decline. Face it, some people just want to watch the world burn, even it includes themselves getting burned.

[@iviewthetube]

They should allow tagging inside jail cells so that they get a chance to express themselves.

[@LanceHayabusa]

graffiti is shit.

[@eastkentmadereak]

like yourself 🤣😂😂

[@charlesr.wallace5597]

So, thanks for nothing.

[@kevinwees5707]

I 5 looks like tash going through Seattle.

[@cvrart]

I believe there are lots of white walls in prison - a person could spend a lifetime trying to tag all those walls ;-)

[@cjcj6945]

It looks so trashy, this and homeless camps/campers are a bad look for tourists coming to visit our otherwise beautiful State😮

[@jtdevrieze]

Y'all this is crazy, just let good art pieces stay up. Way better than gray walls. Go to a city with character like NY, graff is everywhere. Vibrant and beautiful. What a disgusting waste of taxpayer dollars.

[@chnalvr]

Anyone in Seattle City government/council reach out to other cities that have solved their graffiti problems to learn how they accomplished it? Vancouver, BC has very little of this public mess along with some larger California cities. It's insanity to pay millions of dollars to simply remove the graffiti without making the vandals experience a consequence that really hurts. It's past time to fine and jail these idiots before our beautiful city is vacated and left blighted like Detroit.

[@derrek777]

No serious consequences for their actions so they keep doing what they’re doing.

[@Dontbesosoft]

People have spent up to a decade in prison for it and still go get it .

[@seandonahue8464]

They prioritized clean up of signs, Wow, hadn’t noticed! If you don’tcatch them why should it change?

[@Danscettenuit]

People who have too much time on their hands

[@eastkentmadereak]

Graffiti supplies aint cheap! we work jobs too civillian 🤣😂😂

[@DestinyR7]

1000000% Provide them with a designated area to tag! This was a thing 10 years ago and it was amazing! It was called “the free wall” idk if it was a private or city run thing. Give them a designated corridor with safe access points and 1-2 maintenance workers to paint over gang or inappropriate material. It would make a really cool landmark and could even boost tourism. Win win

[@pfg_pedals]

As George W would say, “Mission accomplished.” How about the boys in blue take the month off with pay and tell the mayor to give their whole staff a raise since the city is now completely safe.

[@michellewolf8556]

We waste half a million dollars over PAINT?!

[@ncascadehiker]

After you've been alive 50 years, you notice the overall trend of the world is decline. And it feels sad.

[@hexstatikthagraffer285]

The last guy has a valid point on finding a place for the graff writers to express themselves💯💯✊🏾✊🏾

[@SharonWolfe-qq8xb]

The man that thinks they need a place to do their art should use his home. My goodness, you think the city should provide that, sheesh!

[@RockStaaaars]

yet if bansky does it, its perfectly fine

[@greenmail2012]

That's not art it gang tags. There should be a data base to document and track it, cameras and a gang/ drug dealer task force.

[@eastkentmadereak]

Gang banging and graffiti are two completely different things little bro.

[@eastkentmadereak]

So many shootings have had no suspects found lately and they worry about this minor problem 🤣😂😂 its just paint!

[@markzucker3949]

The taggers work for the cleanup crew

[@justinmansfield3019]

Art is not a crime! North Seattle for life!!

[@istoa22]

Destroying someone else’s property is all it really is

[@eastkentmadereak]

City property 😂 live a little homie… its just the younglife 💁‍♂️

[@roryfullerton1136]

Instead of wasting money,....why not hire people to monitor the cameras?

[@prestonbinder637]

Komo needs to pixelate/blur actual graffiti images,. the “graf artists” “work” displayed on tv is like a trophy for them

[@cvrart]

1:29 - YES!!! This lady has the right idea. In areas that have proven attractive in the past, why not do some smart interdiction by deploying some monitoring? They could dynamically deploy monitoring as tagging activity shifts to different spots. Also, explore the relationship between encampments and tagging in surrounding areas, to see if there's some connection. I imagine there's a few folks doing the off grid addiction lifestyle who are engaged in this activity.

[@Controlled-Opposition.]

The lack of understanding for the subculture is understandable. There is a very clear difference between gang graffiti and the much larger graffiti culture. Many of the most prominent graffiti writers are truly people of a diverse range, many walks of life, some with very high paying jobs who contribute to the community as a common value outside of their nighttime activities. Most are quite averse to violent crime, in fact many young graffiti writers will say quite openly how graffiti kept them away from hard drugs and gang life. You may not like it, and it is obviously a form of vandalism, but the culture (yes it is absolutely cultured) far more nuanced than "these are just a bunch of drug addicted criminals!".

[@shawnlepine5788]

Last I heard graffiti is legal

[@eastkentmadereak]

changed it back lmao in like 3 months because it got out of hand quickly…

[@eastkentmadereak]

started charging people again smh.

[@Outsquatchin]

Why are they able to do this over and over again!!!place them in a Texas prison for 10 years per tag!!!

[@FlowKio]

What’s the point of cameras if there’s a shooting every day? spend that money on better equipment and more staff

[@lcrazy8l]

Last guy illustrates why it will always be a thing. Bending over backwards to justify for others.

[@ALLDAYEVERYDAYKIM]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 That footage is about as good as Bigfoot, Lock Ness.

[@shamanbeartwo3819]

Wow!! They were caught on camera!! But that sure is some lousy camera footage. Homeowners post better stuff of wildlife in their backyards than this crap but hey, they were caught on camera!!

[@jhericlexto4961]

If you have an “itch” tagging why not start tagging yourself see how you like it.

[@martintuskevicius8084]

Maybe they should make the punishment for tagging actually harsh, like minimum 2 years in prison. That would make people think twice about doing it. I bet these taggers get a slap on the wrist and they're out the next day doing it.

[@thereissomecoolstuff]

There is a tagger named Gride who added his name over 75 times on the freeway wall north of 38th. If you want the graffiti taken down just write “Trump” on any graffiti you see. It will be gone in 4 hours.

[@notanindianscammer7594]

I know Gride, he is a pretty cool guy

[@pitchforkpeasant6219]

They write trump, it’ll just get added to. A list actually. Would be funny though 😂

[@thereissomecoolstuff]

@@notanindianscammer7594 is he? I think he is an asshole. The cops know him to. They don’t seem to care.

[@pualdupvandoff8199]

​@@notanindianscammer7594To you he's cool. To many, he's not. He has no inherent right to deface public property with his 'art'. . But it's sooo 'edgy' and 'cool'..

[@warrenbussa3441]

Nothing will be done and it will continue. No accountability for people anymore.

[@edbenelli5374]

“Suspected”? Gee.

[@206Scorpio75]

Like there aren't more pressing issues going on here in King County.

[@kishin901]

It's not a need to paint, by definition it's a want. If they want this to stop they need to have a tangible consequence for breaking the law.

[@shadow80y]

Uhh, just stop cleaning if you can't catch the taggers. Waste of fuckin' money

[@mosswine5417]

Seattle seems to want to clean up for the 2026 world cup 😅

[@JJ-ls8ep]

Teflon resistant spray so the paint won’t stick

[@thereissomecoolstuff]

Does anybody understand you quit selling spray paint the graffiti disappears. Treat buying spray paint like buying a Sudafed with ID and facial recognition. It’s done.

[@Chunkyburnerz]

Can still use paint rollers and paintbrushes lol

[@thereissomecoolstuff]

@@Chunkyburnerz if you see them using gallons and brushes so will the cops. They should be arrested.

[@Chunkyburnerz]

@@thereissomecoolstuff good point

[@Prague1810]

Preston Phillips is as gross as the graffiti!

[@Pam-y7y]

Our local news is a joke along with money spent for nothing

[@IntriguedLioness]

Tagging is not graffiti, In either case if it's not your wall don't paint on it. I've always lived in very large metropolitan areas with very serious graffiti blaster programs and if it went up, it came down. Seeing Seattle like this Is actually quite sad.

[@DesperadoDufel]

Tagging is as graffiti as it gets.....

[@tildonchiasson5526]

Maybe try punishing your criminals…? 🙄

[@Chunkyburnerz]

What they need to do is hire the CIA and Seattle Swat team. They must paint themselves grey and hide near the freeway walls. Once a graffiti tagger appears they can sneak up and arrest them calling in a helicopter to escort the assailant, to the king county jail! Problem solved

[@brianparmenter3583]

Every day the graffiti grows but the state acts like nothing is happening. If the people reasonable got a real job they wouldn't have the time to be out painting.

[@strayspark1967]

vote em out

[@ABC-bangkok]

graffiti punishment 12 months in prison and 12 strokes of the cane. ...

[@raquelmascara6382]

Why is wsdot still building walls that holds paints -- A layer of oil or plant ivy and put these caught little creeps to do the clean-up!! Sick of the growing graffiti!!!

[@arlienewilkerson2857]

Too bad the artistic taggers don’t have another outlet for their art.

[@elisabethseeger5837]

Dangerous for taggers too

[@edge1000]

who cares?

[@amanda906-o4y]

I think it looks cool