What about the damage?
Most people buying spray paint say that it’s inexpensive, and it’s good quality. There was a recent story about a man who, after his mother died on the day of her funeral, bought spray paint to spray over the walls of the family’s home, in his mother’s memory. He said that the paint had worked wonders for that particular wall, but was the same quality and value as something he could buy in a store for a relatively inexpensive price.
Some people have had problems with these paints. For example, a young African-American man was arrested in New York City in 1999 for “scrawling racist messages on a store’s door in connection with a dispute between two men who live in the same apartment building as he does,” according to the New York Post. He was convicted of “a felony count of ‘writing a violent or threatening message’ in the third degree” in the court case, but not any charges relating to the swastika. He was fined $1,000.
Another case from the 1990s involved a man in Washington, D.C. who was charged in 1991 with a “hate crime” charge for spraypainting the words “white supremacy” and “F— the Jews” on the wall of an apartment building. Charges were eventually dropped.
In the early 2000s, the Philadelphia Police Department reported six incidents in which their officers removed paint from a building and found it not to have been damaged. In several of these cases, people were charged with the misdemeanor for spraypainting the wrong color on the wall. At least one other individual was charged with misdemeanor vandalism; one individual pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge.
What about the cost of a spray paint can? You can use this online tool to figure out exactly how much it costs to paint something. You can also try a quick Google search or simply compare prices on different websites like Lowe’s and Adorama.
Where can I find more information?
You might find a lot of information, but you might also find an awful lot of misinformation. The National Coalition Against Censorship published a list of frequently used phrases like “racist,” “antifa,” or “fascists” that have no basis in fact that are often used by right-wing extremists. On some websites, you can find a lot of very unscientific polls and surveys.
Also, you might find websites that say you need a permit or a tax ID to apply for a permit