The Tire Extinguishers movement, which started in the United Kingdom, has spread to the United States and leaders promised to ‘expand massively’ in the coming weeks.
New York City was hard hit by the group last month, when the tires of approximately 40 SUVs were deflated on the Upper East Side.
Residents in Chicago, San Francisco, and Scranton, Pennsylvania, were also targeted by the climate activists.
The group is most prominent across the UK and Europe, where activists have allegedly slashed more than 5,000 tires since the movement launched in March.
The Tire Extinguishers claim SUVs and 4×4 vehicles are a ‘disaster for our health, our public safety and our climate.’
The group alleges that government officials and policies have ‘failed to protect us from this danger’ so they have chosen to take action into their own hands.
‘We want to make it impossible to own a huge polluting 4×4 in the world’s urban areas,’ the group’s web site states.
‘We do this by deflating the tres (sic) of these massive, unnecessary vehicles, causing inconvenience and expense for their owners.’
The group, which publishes its slashing efforts online, took credit for deflating 40 tires in Manhattan last month. Members also targeted 20 vehicles in Chicago, 20 in Scranton and at least 23 in San Francisco.
‘It can happen anywhere, anytime,’ the spokesperson warned. ‘If you’re reading this and you own an SUV, scrap it before we get to it.’
This is unequivocally terrorism.
Truck tires are not cheap, especially the large premium off-road tires, those can easily be $2,000 or more for a set. Fully deflating the tire can also damage the rim.
Of course these terrorists can and will get away with this in New York, San Francisco, and other deep Blue places, but I can’t see this going well for these people in Red areas.
Besides the enforcement of the law, Rednecks are very protective of their trucks.
Of course I’m not advocating the use of violence to defend personal property, that’s illegal.
I’m just saying that if some guy who gets caught slashing a set of Yokohama Geolanders gets his teeth knocked in with a tire iron, I wouldn’t vote to convict.
But remember, it’s white supremacists marching with Betsy Ross flags that are big threat in America right now. That’s what the DOJ says.
I note that they aren’t doing this in Houston, Dallas or San Antonio, let alone Lufkin, Tyler or San Angelo. Of all truck lovers, Texans may be the most passionate of all.
After reading the church vandalism post, then this one, I’m drawn again to a conclusion, and a prediction.
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The prediction is that you will not see the tire-slashing nonsense and the like move to suburban and rural areas, at least not in significant numbers.
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The conclusion is that many of these people are in it for the violence and destruction; the cause is the excuse. They can do that readily where they are and can move to another cause easily that lets them continue to destroy, when the shine wears off this one.
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It is very much as it was with the groups that would throw paint on fur coats at gala events. If they were sincere in their beliefs they would also do that to bikers’ leathers. Somehow they never get around to it though.
I have a feeling that soon enough it would be a profitable enterprise to own some sort of amalgamation of Executive Outcomes and Pinkerton Detective Agency in deep blue areas.
True pipe hitting enforcers paid by the rich and well connected to quietly dispense frontier justice to those that threaten them.
When some guy’s Suburban’s tires are slashed, nobody does anything. When some millionaire Leftist donor has his G Wagon’s tires slashes, some exotic activist ends up with a broken arm and a warning to leave certain addresses alone.
Such activities would be ignored by local prosecutors because the same people who hire the pipe hitters are also the prosecutor’s major donors.
Had that happen at a local university some years back. Tires were cheaper but the weight of the larger vehicles on the rims ended up damaging them (the rims) and pushing it into felony level costs. And they charged the offender w/ that when he was caught.
“. . .the use of violence to defend personal property, that’s illegal.”
Not in Texas.
You fuck my stuff up, I catch you I can legally fuck you up. And enjoy it, here in the soon to be Republic of Texas. Hopefully.
The reporting I saw earlier about this outfit said that its adherents were deflating tires (i.e., pushing the valve in to let the air out as intended for that mechanism) — no slashing of tires. So it’s vandalism in the sense that it causes trouble for the car owner, who has to get the tires pumped back up, but it doesn’t require replacing the tires. No actual damage, unless weight on the rims bends them (which wasn’t mentioned).
Do we know which of the two reports is the accurate one? Slashing, or deflating?
For what’s it’s worth, typical “journalism”, it says both, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/activist-group-tire-extinguishers-slashing-wheels-around-world
It seems to be slashing in the US and deflating in the UK, probably because UK knife laws are so tough they don’t want to be caught with them.
As others have said, don’t come try that in Texas… And yes, an SUV dropping on the rim WILL bend it to the point that it must be replaced. When all four of my tires/rims were stolen back in 2011, the total was over $4000 in value, and those were the factory mags.