A post from East TN Valley Crime Stoppers is asking the public for help identifying a group of skateboarders who are accused of causing more than $5,000 in damage to the Oarsman statue on Gay Street in Knoxville.
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According to the Crime Stoppers post, authorities are looking for information about the people seen around the statue. Anyone who recognizes the individuals can submit a tip anonymously. A tip that leads to an arrest may qualify for a reward of up to $2,000.
The post has also gotten a lot of attention in the skateboarding community, with everyone debating public property and whether the actions of a few should be used to judge an entire community.
Skateboarding Is Not the Problem
Let’s be honest here. Skateboarding itself is not a crime, and it is not fair to treat every skateboarder like they are responsible for what a few people may have allegedly done.
As Tim Pool has pointed out, skateboarding is now an Olympic sport. Skateboarders compete at the highest level and are part of communities all over the world.
READ MORE: Tim Pool, “Skateboarding is Dead, It’s an Olympic Sport but it’s Completely Dead”
If someone damaged the Oarsman statue, that person should be held accountable for the damage. But that does not mean skateboarding itself should be treated as the problem.
There is a big difference between riding a skateboard and damaging public property. If the allegations are proven, the focus should be on the individuals responsible for the reported damage, not everyone who happens to ride a skateboard.
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Should We Side With the Skateboarders?
This is where things get a little more complicated.
People have every right to be upset if public property was damaged. More than $5,000 in reported damage is not a small amount, and the community deserves to know what happened.
At the same time, the people shown in the Crime Stoppers post are being sought for identification. An accusation is not the same as a finding of guilt. Until authorities establish what happened and who was responsible, people should be careful about treating social media claims as proven facts.
There is also no reason to turn this into a debate about whether skateboarding itself is acceptable. If someone used a skateboard while allegedly damaging the statue, that does not make every skateboarder responsible.
The better question is simple. Who was involved, what actually happened, and who should be responsible for the reported damage?
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At the end of the day, skateboarding is not the issue. If the reported damage happened, the people responsible should be held accountable.
But blaming an entire community for the actions of a few does not make much sense.
East TN Valley Crime Stoppers Posted:
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HELP IDENTIFY THESE INDIVIDUALS
We need help identifying a group of skateboarders who allegedly caused over $5,000 in damage to the Oarsman statue on Gay Street.
Know who they are? Stay anonymous and submit a tip to East Tennessee Valley Crime Stoppers.
Tips to Crime Stoppers leading to an arrest may earn a reward of up to $2,000.
Please share. Someone knows who they are.
Knoxville Police Department - TN #easttnvalleycrimestoppers