Prosecutors have charged Olympia mixed-martial-arts champion and avowedanarchist Jeff Monson with first-degree malicious mischief based onphotographs published in a December edition of ESPN The Magazine thatshowed him spray-painting an anarchist symbol on the state Capitol,court papers state.
Jeff Monson is either really dumb or really smart. I’m leaning towards the latter.
The fighter, who last appeared in the Mixed Fighting Alliance, winning over Ricco Rodriguez in December, has a warrant against him for defacing the Capitol building in Olympia, Wash. This warrant was issued after pictures of him painting an anarchist symbol on the building appeared in ESPN the Magazine.
See, Monson is an outspoken anarchist. He has said many timesthat he wants to do away with the social hierarchies that govern ourworld. The best way for Monson to share these theories is through themass media, so publicity is his friend.
Is Monson so dumb that he would expect ESPN to not use photographsof him committing a crime? Of course not. This is a man with a Master’sdegree in psychology. He understands the ramifications of civildisobedience. If he didn’t want attention brought to his cause, hewould have asked ESPN to photograph him sitting at home, enjoyingdinner.
Monson was charged with first-degree malicious mischief,a crime that carries a maximum penalty of a $20,000 fine and 10 yearsin prison. ESPN did not do him a favor by running that picture, butit’s not their job to protect athletes. It’s their job to cover them, afact which Monson has used to make sure that everyone is discussing hiscause today.