Local bike "gang" tags pedestrian bridge with Swastikas

Smooth guys, real smooth. So what's the message you're trying to convey? That the Skidmarxxx bike "gang" are a bunch of nazi punks? Thanks guys, way to drum up support for the local bike community. Tagging the most-walked bridge in town with a bunch of fucking SWASTIKAS and then signing it with your crews name is such a fucking bonehead move. I swear, kids these days. What goes through their tiny drug-addled minds?

1/29/08 UPDATE: According to the Skidmarxxx this was done by a rival bike gang to discredit their name. So there you have it. Ruffians are at work!

Spray-Painted Swastikas Mar Pfluger Bridge
http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=7154948

Vandals spray-painted swastikas on the seats, rails and sidewalks of the Pfluger Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge for all to see.

The bridge is just more than six years old and a popular spot for those who visit the hike and bike trail along Lady Bird Lake.

Workers for the city's graffiti abatement program have their hands full. This past weekend they found more than 20 new cases of graffiti damage, including this latest case in Downtown Austin. "It's a mess," said Tony Casarez, coordinator of the program. "That's gonna be the real tough one is getting the sidewalks cleaned up."

Casarez's crews were busy Monday, cleaning what they could.

In many cases, they'll use a pressure washer and chemicals, but the damage above Lady Bird Lake will need special treatment.

"In this particular area we have a lot of drainage sites along the curb line, and that's what's gonna be a problem," Casarez said.

Downtown resident Susan Jackson walks the bridge every day with her dog, Lulu, and said the graffiti is an unwelcome visitor that just worsens.

"Yeah, they just have no respect or dignity," Jackson said of the vandals. "Everybody that comes to Austin wants to come downtown to the lake and walk around, and this is no way for someone to come to our city, and it looks like a trashcan."

It's the type of mess abatement crews clean up at least 80 times a day.

Casarez said the city's growth is part of the problem, and it's caught the eye of the Austin Police Department.

"They have an investigator assigned to graffiti, and he is continually investigating, looking, and he has officers in the districts," Casarez said.

Contact the program for more information or to report an incident at (512) 854-4125.