During the first two weekends of July, a mob of teenagers occupied Johnson (Hemming) Park late on Saturday nights. On the first Saturday, they went wild on the scooters, then painted graffiti on the Dalton Building, before shooting out the building's windows. On the Second Saturday, they did the same, but shot up City Hall. Photos attached and also a video of the graffiti artists carrying a ladder.
Not a word of this was seen anywhere in the Jacksonville media.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9dpzb2ot9f6mt5n/IMG_1933.JPEG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4c4arti57gcfhl7/IMG_1928.JPEG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/m7dmf9xttd27m4l/IMG_1879.JPEG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ubpzgkus3qebe4w/IMG_1877.JPEG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8h6x3x0d2mggupw/IMG_0969.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/62afr9f163x9nak/IMG_0967.JPG?dl=0
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/efmhxkfr2239q9j/IMG_0966.JPG?dl=0)
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/0vw9ynshhs46hhr/IMG_0965.JPG?dl=0)
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/9d0uwxafbkbidje/IMG_0948.mp4?dl=0)
This is unfortunate. I was downtown late a few Saturdays ago and while I remember a lot of teens near JWJ, I don't recall any such violence or property damage.
I suppose in the future we'll have to find the right balance of letting people have a good time without anyone bringing in weapons. At the end of the day, I guess some degree of liveliness comes with a downtown people are actively in.
I'm also not sure about the use of language like "occupied" in describing this. These were teens and clearly some adults, not some paramilitary force. The scooters have been talked to death on this site, I think they're very useful and a great addition to downtown.
The media probably didn't report on this because at the end of the day, it's not all that newsworthy. No one was injured, no one died, thankfully. Some joyriding and vandalism isn't much of a story these days. Imagine if we put out an article every time some graffiti went up somewhere. Or what, that a bunch of teens were downtown at once? In denser cities this is almost certainly common. Not to mention that it's July, while school's out and the days are sunny. To call this a cover-up is a bit sensational.
Unfortunate...rofl...
Where was JSO?
There was a gunfire in front of City Hall and JSO wasn't around to stop it or even notice it? Not saying it didn't happen, but something seems fishy here.
^ and there's video surveillance all over the park
There's also security at the park 24/7 so the cops would most definitely have been notified.
Must be fake pictures...
So what the hell is going on?
JSO crime mapper (https://www.crimemapping.com/map/fl/jacksonville# (https://www.crimemapping.com/map/fl/jacksonville#)) contains reported vandalism at these locations that roughly corroborate the factual elements laid out by the OP, with the exception that they actually occurred the second and third weekends in July.
Incident # 202100413335, Vandalism, 100 Block W Monroe St, 7-10-2021 @ 4:00 PM
Description: Criminal Mischief > $1000, or interruption of business or utilities
Incident # 202100429703, Vandalism, 100 Block W Duval St, 7-16-2021 @ 4:30 PM
Description: Criminal Mischief > $1000, or interruption of business or utilities
Are we sure those were shots fired and not something thrown through the window? Wouldn't it be more than vandalism with gunshots?
I'm surprised this hasn't caught more attention.
Wow!
That's pretty darn significant damage.
Quote from: WAJAS on July 27, 2021, 09:18:00 PM
Are we sure those were shots fired and not something thrown through the window? Wouldn't it be more than vandalism with gunshots?
I'm surprised this hasn't caught more attention.
That mapping app doesn't appear to have a classification for "shots fired" type crimes. There is a "weapons" classification, but JSO doesn't seem to use it as there are no records this year. It seems that to get recorded, weapons use has to accompany another crime--eg, the details of an assault will indicate aggravation with a deadly weapon; robbery will indicate armed vs. Unarmed, etc. The app is not nearly as exhaustive as calls for service, and certainly is not an official record of reported crimes.
What is surprising to me is you'd think that area would have shot spotter coverage. That the report times on the vandalism were in broad daylight really makes you wonder how it's gone so unnoticed. Possibly a commentary on just how little downtown activity there is on weekends?
Quote from: DTJAXEYE on July 27, 2021, 12:12:09 AM
During the first two weekends of July, a mob of teenagers occupied Johnson (Hemming) Park late on Saturday nights. On the first Saturday, they went wild on the scooters, then painted graffiti on the Dalton Building, before shooting out the building's windows. On the Second Saturday, they did the same, but shot up City Hall. Photos attached and also a video of the graffiti artists carrying a ladder.
Not a word of this was seen anywhere in the Jacksonville media.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9dpzb2ot9f6mt5n/IMG_1933.JPEG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4c4arti57gcfhl7/IMG_1928.JPEG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/m7dmf9xttd27m4l/IMG_1879.JPEG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ubpzgkus3qebe4w/IMG_1877.JPEG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8h6x3x0d2mggupw/IMG_0969.JPG?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/62afr9f163x9nak/IMG_0967.JPG?dl=0
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/efmhxkfr2239q9j/IMG_0966.JPG?dl=0)
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/0vw9ynshhs46hhr/IMG_0965.JPG?dl=0)
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/9d0uwxafbkbidje/IMG_0948.mp4?dl=0)
Assuming your version of events is true - and I have no reason to believe otherwise - what evidence do you have of a 'cover up'? Lots of unseemly things happen in Jacksonville that don't get reported. Using downtown as an example, I don't recall the media ever reporting when the owner of an overrated Italian restaurant would assault people - particularly homeless people - on a semi-regular basis.
Quote from: marcuscnelson on July 27, 2021, 02:35:16 AMThe media probably didn't report on this because at the end of the day, it's not all that newsworthy. No one was injured, no one died, thankfully. Some joyriding and vandalism isn't much of a story these days. Imagine if we put out an article every time some graffiti went up somewhere. Or what, that a bunch of teens were downtown at once? In denser cities this is almost certainly common. Not to mention that it's July, while school's out and the days are sunny. To call this a cover-up is a bit sensational.
^This guy gets it.
"Idiot(s) inconvenience property owners; business proceeds as normal" ain't much of a headline.
Particularly during a global pandemic when our hospitals are stressed to the point of breakage.
Quote from: DTJAXEYE on July 27, 2021, 12:12:09 AM
During the first two weekends of July, a mob of teenagers occupied Johnson (Hemming) Park late on Saturday nights. On the first Saturday, they went wild on the scooters, then painted graffiti on the Dalton Building, before shooting out the building's windows. On the Second Saturday, they did the same, but shot up City Hall. Photos attached and also a video of the graffiti artists carrying a ladder.
This timeline is factually incorrect.
The graffiti goons were not part of some wild Hemming Park scooter mob that tagged the building before shooting the windows out. If you look at your own photos of the graffiti cleanup, the windows are still intact, and if you watch your own video, there's not a scooter to be seen. The two incidents happened a week apart and were not nearly as sensational/anti-youth/anti-scooter as you may hope.
From my understanding - I've been out of town a lot over the last couple of weeks, so I might be wrong - the damage to the two buildings' windows came on the same night (not on consecutive Saturdays), likely from the same idiot.
Like with most major urban areas, vandalism is fairly common in Downtown Jax (Wells Fargo, Suntrust Tower, and a few other buildings have caught some bullets or bricks in recent years and there's graffiti all over the urban core). It's not a great look for the city and bad for downtown business that things like this to happen on City Hall's front doorstep, but with covid-19 and genuine violence plaguing the city, some spray paint and a few broken windows from some high school dropout or tweaked-out goon ain't particularly noteworthy. Glad no one was hurt, and I've got faith that we'll see heavier, more active policing moving forward.
Doesn't the man on the ladder with the bucket appear to be 'covering up' the graffiti with primer, or something of the like? Look closer.
Another shooting in JWJ Park last night. Unclear if the damage to City Hall mentioned is new, or from the previous shots documented in this thread.
https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2021/08/01/multiple-shootings-overnight-in-jacksonville-leaves-one-dead/
Quote from: Ken_FSU on July 28, 2021, 11:35:37 AMGlad no one was hurt, and I've got faith that we'll see heavier, more active policing moving forward.
Nailed it!
City's gotta get JWJ under control after hours.
Especially with Marriott potentially moving in down the street.
Weren't two kids shot in JWJ Park over the weekend? And bullets hit City Hall? Saw that somewhere....
Assistant Chief Pendley addressed this issue at the Urban Core CPAC last night. They're increasing their presence around the park at night.
Just found it on News4Jax, and it seems like this is one very violent city. Several shootings resulting in dead people over the weekend. Including a lady in Riverside who was calling in a car break in.......
https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2021/08/03/jso-woman-killed-outside-of-home-in-riverside-while-confronting-car-burglar/
It seems they have stepped up their security at the park. The place is full of red and blue lights. I spotted at least 6 police cars, but nothing seemed to be actively occuring.
LOL, High and right I guess.