Duluth News Tribune | 09/16/2004 | Teens confess to vandalizing campaign signs

Posted on Thu, Sep. 16, 2004

Teens confess to vandalizing campaign signs

PUBLIC SAFETY:The three Duluth boys say they want to apologize to man for spray painting his lawn signs supporting President Bush.

BY MARK STODGHILL

NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER


'We did it.'

Three Duluth teenagers walked into the Duluth News Tribune on Wednesday afternoon, opening with these three words. The boys said they were responsible for vandalizing Bush campaign signs and painting a swastika and the word 'Nazi' at a London Road residence last weekend.

An hour later, the three boys traveled to the Lakeside-Lester Park police station, where Sgt. Scott Campbell was waiting to talk to them.

The teenagers told the News Tribune they meant no harm to Bob James, the homeowner and Bush-Cheney supporter who erected the signs. They said they spray painted the signs and the swastika on James' sidewalk but had nothing to do with the vandalism of two of James' vehicles.

Friends and supporters of James and the Republican Party of Minnesota had offered a $2,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the vandalism.

While the teenagers were remorseful for what they did to James, they stood by their contempt for President Bush. They said they left a phone message for James on Wednesday and twice went to his house to apologize, but he wasn't home. They planned to try again later Wednesday.

'It was not an act of hate,' said Dustin 'Dusty' Dzuck, 17, a senior at Denfeld High School. 'My mom called me a terrorist. It wasn't terrorism; it was activism. It was for a cause.... The whole thing is, basically, I just wanted to get the word out there that in my opinion."

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