UPDATE: Oct. 27 ― The man responsible for smashing Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was arrested Thursday for felony vandalism, the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to The Huffington Post. The LAPD has not officially released the name of the man, but he told Deadline his name is Jamie Otis.
UPDATE: Oct. 26, 2:00 p.m. ― In a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, president and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Leron Gubler, responded to the vandalism of Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“When people are unhappy with one of our honorees, we would hope that they would project their anger in more positive ways than to vandalize a California State landmark,” Gubler said. “People can make a difference by voting and not destroying public property.”
Gubler added that the Chamber is “working with the police in regards to this felony and intends to prosecute to the full extent of the law,” which they would do for any star.
The star will be restored “immediately,” though Gubler noted it will require “several days of seasoning before it is polished.”
PREVIOUSLY:
A vandal dressed as a construction worker took a sledgehammer and a pick-axe to Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame early Wednesday morning, leaving behind a pile of dust.
The man behind the incident told Deadline his name was Jamie Otis, and said his initial plan was to remove The Donald’s star from the sidewalk. Otis explained that wanted to auction off the Republican presidential candidate’s star to raise money for all the women who’ve come forward with allegations of sexual assault against him.
As seen in the image below, and in this video shared by Deadline, Otis wasn’t quite successful in removing the star, but he did manage to do some serious damage.
Trump’s star was dedicated in 2007 for his work on “The Apprentice.” “Apprentice” executive producer Mark Burnett, Larry King and Jay Leno spoke at the ceremony.
According to Deadline, the vandalism took place around 5:45 a.m., when almost no one was around to stop it. But of course, this isn’t the first time someone’s defaced the real estate-mogul-turned-politican’s star since he first announced he was running for president last year.
In January, a reverse swastika was painted onto the star, while in March, someone painted a mute sign on it, seemingly protesting the presidential candidate’s offensive language and policies.
Then there was that time a service dog pooped on the sidewalk star, leaving us with this image:
Street artist Plastic Jesus even built a wall around Trump’s star in July (and no, Mexico did not pay for it).
Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularlyincitespolitical violence and is a
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