Mixed martial arts champ charged in Capitol graffiti
BY JEREMY PAWLOSKI, The Olympian
Published: 01/14/09 5:55 pm | Updated: 01/15/09 7:08 am
Prosecutors have charged Olympia mixed-martial-arts champion and avowed anarchist Jeff Monson with first-degree malicious mischief based on photographs published in the December edition of “ESPN The Magazine,” showing him spray-painting an anarchist symbol on the state Capitol, court papers state.
A warrant seeking Monson’s arrest was filed Wednesday morning in Thurston County Superior Court. Monson, 37, is charged with first-degree malicious mischief, a Class B felony carrying a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
The graffiti cost $19,000 to clean up, the court papers state.
Police have been seeking those responsible for spray-painting graffiti on columns on the north side of the Capitol’s legislative building on Nov. 26. The graffiti included anarchy symbols, a peace symbol, and phrases such as “no war” and “no poverty.” According to the court papers, a State Patrol and an Olympia police detective recognized Monson as the perpetrator of the graffiti on surveillance footage captured by a camera at the Capitol, but the break in the case occurred after ESPN The Magazine published an article on Monson and his political views on Dec. 29.
A photograph of Monson leaving graffiti on the Capitol was included in the article, court papers state.
“In full the caption above the picture reads: ‘On a recent night in Olympia, Monson suddenly pulled out a spray can and tagged the state capitol (sic),’” court papers state. “The term ‘tagged’ seems somewhat puerile in light of the fact that the State Buildings and Grounds expended $19,013.50 (labor and materials) to eradicate the damage.”
Monson, an Olympia native and Timberline High School graduate who wrestled at Oregon State, left a job as a mental health counselor to pursue mixed martial-arts fighting. In December 2004, he won the Cagewarriors Fighting Champion heavyweight title in Sheffield, England, by defeating Tengiz Tedoradze with a submission hold in the first round.
Most recently, on Dec. 13, he won a match against Ricco Rodriguez in the Mixed Fighting Alliance “There Will Be Blood” event in Miami. Monson’s fighting nickname is “The Snowman.” He is currently the World Grappling Champion.
Reached by telephone on Wednesday, Monson, who is out of state, took responsibility for the graffiti at the Capitol, but said that it has a point: to protest war in Iraq and economic inequality at home and abroad.
“Every great movement in the United States from civil rights, women’s rights, the labor movement, has been the result of people standing up and breaking the law, refusing to stand at the back of the bus, refusing the stand aside when the government asks you to get off their property,” Monson said. “And now, these people are seen as pioneers. But at the time, they were criminals, they were literally criminals. I’m not here to advocate for myself, at some point you have to stand up.”
Monson, who said he has participated in the protests at the Port of Olympia in November 2007, and in other protests against the Iraq War, added that he wants to make his political beliefs known. “When a country’s committing an illegal war, you’re not supposed to stand aside.”
Monson said he just got back from Nicaragua, where he saw some of the worst poverty he has ever seen in his life. He said the international travel that he has taken has opened his eyes to issues of poverty worldwide.
“We’re completely complicit,” he said. “It’s all about consumerism. We want cheap TVs, we want cheap clothes, we want cheap Nikes. We’re exploiting these people.”
Monson said he had heard only 20 minutes earlier that the State Patrol was looking for him in Olympia. He said he is going to contact State Patrol, but he’s not sure what he’s going to do.
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