[ad_1]
A 24-year-old man who's destroyed President Trump's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with a pickax in July reached a plea deal on a $ 9,500 for the marker's replacement.
The man, Austin Mikel Clay, pleaded no contest to one felony of vandalism, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Under the plea agreement, a judge ordered to $ 9,404.46 to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which leads the Walk of Fame. That represents the actual cost of repairs to the star, said Leron Gubler, chief executive of the chamber.
In his video, Mr. Clay said his destruction of the star was a "one-man protest" against the president and the Republican Party. "It's going to be a really negative presence there," he said in the video.
Mr. Clay, of Glendale, Calif., Was also sentenced to three years of probation, one day in the city of Jail (which he already served) and 20 days of community labor, according to the news release. He must also expect psychological counseling.
The episode on July 25 was the second time Mr. Trump's star had been destroyed in less than two years. James Otis, 54, who tried to remove Mr. Trump's star by smashing it with a pickax and sledgehammer in October 2016, was dealt with a very close response to Mr. Clay's – except for the cost of repair in his case was $ 4,400.
Prosecutors said Mr. Clay used a pickax to smash the pink star, which is made of terrazzo and brass. Mr. Clay left the scene but turned himself into the police, the news release said.
Mr. Gubler said Mr. Trump's star was fully repaired by early September. The Hollywood Historic Trust, a nonprofit organization, is in charge of repairing the stars.
David Pourshalimi, Mr. Clay's lawyer, said on Wednesday that his client's decision to destroy Mr. Trump's name was prompted by his parents' practice of separating their parents from the United States. That was the last straw for him, Mr. Purshalimi said.
"He thought he was really doing the people of the United States a service," he said, "that he was doing an act of goodness."
In Mr. Clay's YouTube video, he listed several political reasons that he decided to target Mr. Trump's star, including the separation of migrant families, Mr. Trump's relationship with President Vladimir Putin of Russia and the Trump administration's environmental policies. Mr. Clay also called the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to leave the star off the sidewalk.
But Mr. Gubler said this is a policy that keeps it going. In 2015, a petition Bill Cosby's star of claims of sexual misconduct against him, but the chamber has rejected the request, saying it has a duty to preserve the Walk of Fame's history.
Mr. Gubler said the chamber does not change its policy over one star. "For all the people saying we ought to remove the star, there are just a few people who say you should not," he said of Mr. Trump's marker.
The cost of getting a star on the Walk of Fame is now $ 40,000, which is typically paid for by a celebrity sponsor. When Mr. Trump's star was installed in 2007, for his NBC show "The Apprentice," the cost was about $ 20,000, Mr. Gubler estimated.
Mr. Gubler said he thought this episode would be a message that there are consequences for vandalism. In recent years, an artist built a six-inch "wall" around Mr. Trump's star, and others smeared ketchup on it and painted it purple.
"We hope people will learn to express their displeasure with Donald Trump," Mr. Gubler said.
Source link
