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Sent his kids down to the vehicle to "switch plates on the truck", when he realized he was going to be turned in?
Yeah, sounds like he's totally willing to "make amends".
Only after he realized he was toast.
X2.
He might build good hitches but fell short of smarts etching on the arch then posting his family's image on the net.
If everyone did this we wouldn't have great places for our children.
Some people have no respect.......look at what these people did !!
Way different what the ancients did to record history than some lame brain did in this day and age, should get the max prison and financial penalty and a lifetime ban from all public lands that he has no respect for, he's old enough to know better.
Way different what the ancients did to record history than some lame brain did in this day and age, should get the max prison and financial penalty and a lifetime ban from all public lands that he has no respect for, he's old enough to know better.
Denny
I know and agree, was just trying to add some humor.
Did anybody ever determine whether this was actually an illegal act, since it was not in the park. I completely agree that it was a DB act and a lousy example to set for his children, but did he actually commit a crime? I'm seeing people calling for huge amounts of comm. service, prison time etc. for scratching a rock. Again, I think it was a stupid act, but it would be nice to know the facts prior to the lynching .
I was thinking about the "switch plates on the truck" comment on the way home. Who keeps spare and bogus plates in their vehicle to swap out besides 007?
Did anybody ever determine whether this was actually an illegal act, since it was not in the park. I completely agree that it was a DB act and a lousy example to set for his children, but did he actually commit a crime? I'm seeing people calling for huge amounts of comm. service, prison time etc. for scratching a rock. Again, I think it was a stupid act, but it would be nice to know the facts prior to the lynching .
The official news articles suggest it is a crime and the BLM is investigating as such. The reported maximum punishment is one year in prison and a $100K fine. The "DB-ness" of the act seems to be highly related to whose story you believe. Ryan's apology suggests he just had an out-of-body experience in which he temporarily became a hopelessly love-sick moron. That's relatively low DB I suppose. The other witnesses whose statements are available via third-tier outlets seem to suggest a high DB factor. He was supposedly asked to stop etching by a bystander... but continued anyway. He supposedly asked the kids to swap the plates on the trucks. If the witness statements are true, then I'm inclined to treat it as a premeditated high-DB crime.
It was interesting to note that there was a 2016 incident of arch etching within Arches NP, which also included the word "Andersen 2016" (news articles from that time will pop-up in google searches). We'll probably never know if they are related events, but I expect the authorities will look into it as much as they can (confirm his whereabouts during that period of 2016 if possible).
Did anybody ever determine whether this was actually an illegal act, since it was not in the park. I completely agree that it was a DB act and a lousy example to set for his children, but did he actually commit a crime? I'm seeing people calling for huge amounts of comm. service, prison time etc. for scratching a rock. Again, I think it was a stupid act, but it would be nice to know the facts prior to the lynching .
Yes, it's definitely a crime per federal law, I assume that is on federal land.
While it is DEFINITELY objectionable in my opinion, let's unpack some of those assumptions here - there are some interesting ethical questions raised.
Who gets to decide what is "priceless historical heritage" versus what is simply modern grafitti? Is it simply the age that makes something "valuable" or worth protecting? Why isn't all grafitti equally valid?
Or does it have to be performed by a native Indian American to be protected? What does that say then? If trailer hitch guy "identifies" as Anasazi, is that OK? Why not?
Arches National Park had some of their world famous Pictographs (made with paint, versus Petroglyphs) at Courthouse Wash ritually defaced (practically erased) some years back in the 1980s, presumably by a native. This is considered a bit different by anthropologists I suppose than simple "erasing", but it is technically a crime.
You'll see "historical" grafitti along with the petroglyphs - bulletholes, "A. Lõpez 1888" carved into the rock. Why is that OK? That's historic. Won't trailer hitch guy's undying devotion also be historical someday? Just wondering. Yeah sure, they wrote a law somewhere, but nobody seems to care too much about laws anymore.
In Canyonlands NP, it was heavily grazed before it was included in the park system in 1964, in my backcountry experience at the old remote cowboy line camps I discovered that cowboys seemed to have consisted on a diet of coffee, cigarettes, and beer and not much else judging by the garbage left behind. Everything in tins. They didn't eat much beef, believe it or not. Biscuits and gravy, etc. All that rusty garbage - It's all protected by federal law now. It's true - old rusty beer cans cannot be taken home. But, it is a crime to add any new ones.
Now of course it's probably "wrong" to spray "HomeBoyz Rule!" in green flourescent paint over the Great Gallery or "Harvest Scene" in Horseshoe Canyon, but it's pretty much an arbitrary value judgment right? Better get used to it because the younger generations don't give a $@&t about any of that. Maybe some unelected azzhat in a robe can rule that it's your constitutional right to do so.
Now of course it's probably "wrong" to spray "HomeBoyz Rule!" in green flourescent paint over the Great Gallery or "Harvest Scene" in Horseshoe Canyon, but it's pretty much an arbitrary value judgment right? Better get used to it because the younger generations don't give a $@&t about any of that. Maybe some unelected azzhat in a robe can rule that it's your constitutional right to do so.
It was interesting to note that there was a 2016 incident of arch etching within Arches NP, which also included the word "Andersen 2016" (news articles from that time will pop-up in google searches). We'll probably never know if they are related events, but I expect the authorities will look into it as much as they can (confirm his whereabouts during that period of 2016 if possible).
A curious coincidence at minimum, it says "Andersen 16".
If this Anderson fellow really did ignore a bystander's request not to deface a world renowned natural feature on Federal land, so popular that the feature itself has a name, and has a long line of future visitors yet to see it, many of them pulling their campers with Anderson hitches....and,
If this Anderson fellow continued to deface this national treasure, despite being asked not to, in front of his children, teaching them it is not only ok to disrespect our national heritage and to disrespect nature... but it is also ok to disrespect our fellow man... and,
If this Anderson fellow then illegally changed license plates on his vehicle, where the very act of having an alternative license plate suggests a premeditated intent to do wrong, and to avoid getting caught, and to blatantly deceive, and to disrespect authority and rule of law...
If all, or even any, of the foregoing is true, then that is sad. He is no better than the gangsters who deface public and private property with spraying their graffiti. In fact, he might be worse, since he has the financial means to be so much better.
Some folks might be interested in an alternative to the type of hitch he sells. An alternative that is Made in USA, Pull Rite has been in business for decades. I have a 20K pyramid Super 5th from Pull Rite that is over 20 years old now. Here is what the Pull Rite's Super Lite looks like for those with Ford factory hitch prep packages, or B&W underbed gooseneck receivers looking for a lighter alternative to the Companion, and wanting not to reward the type of behavior suspected or alleged above with yet more business that would further fuel what could be a sense of self entitlement that often comes with wealth.
Wow! There are a lot of strong opinions here from people who only know what they’ve read on the internet. This is exactly one of the things that makes the internet dangerous. Here is a man, and a business, being absolutely trashed by many who know very little about what really happened. I think we need to steer clear of becoming an internet jury. I have no idea what the actual facts of this situation are. If he did in fact break the law, he needs to be punished accordingly. I don’t know if he did and if so, to what extent. Plain and simple.
04-07-2018, 09:11 AM
