"A judge ordered mixed martial arts champion Jeff Monson to surrender his passport Tuesday after Monson pleaded not guilty to malicious-mischief charges for allegedly spray-painting an anarchist symbol on the Capitol last year."
"The order casts doubt on whether Monson will be able to appear in two scheduled fights overseas."
... "Monson is allowed to remain free after posting $20,000 bail."
photo via ESPN.com
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over 2 years ago
Nick Thomas
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Not smart
its one thing to do it n another thing to take a pic of u doing n even worse posting the picture on the web.
by ifidie2nite on Jul 29, 2009 2:28 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Dammit Jeff
In a line of work (combat sports) full of self-destructive personalities, Monson has to be one of the most bizarre & original.
So, the fight at Bitetti is probably not going to happen?
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"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Saves Rizzo from being north-south’d to death at least; but yeah doubtful that’s going to happen now.
by Patrick Tenney on Jul 29, 2009 2:36 PM EDT up reply actions
I like that the article only speculates that there is “doubt” he’ll fight in foreign promotions. As if there is hesitance to assume having a revoked passport would stop him.
Also, thank you for commenting on the point of the story that is actually a recent development instead of rehashing the same discussion exercised to death months ago when the incident first happened.
What a total idiot.
The guy is a grown man. WTF is he spraypainting symbols on buildings for?
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by JCS_FM on Jul 29, 2009 2:38 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs
It’s more than just a “symbol” to him. But regardless of how steadfast his belief in anarchy is…spray painting the capitol? A bit much.
"You guys are jerking eachother off with some pseudo deep bullshit." - Kid Nate
by Kaleb Kelchner on Jul 29, 2009 3:02 PM EDT up reply actions
I lost a bit of respect for Monson with his not guilty plea. For someone who hates the establishment and its rules, he sure plays by them well.
A real anarchist would freely admit what he was doing, and why he did it. Boo Monson! Man up!
"The path to enlightenment is through suffering"
by RearNakedChoker on Jul 29, 2009 2:39 PM EDT reply actions
Not Guilty admits culpability.
If Monson’s position is that his actions were a legal form of protest, then Not Guilty is the appropriate plea. Not Guilty is the only way to get the court to challenge the statute.
I like using semi-colons; they make me feel smart.
by Llewdor on Jul 29, 2009 2:44 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
But defacing public, state owned property isn’t a legal form of protest. If Monson’s claim is that he thought it was legal to deface state owned property, then he’s either stupid or ignorant.
But Jeff knows better. When you go out in the middle of the night in a hooded sweater with a can of spraypaint, you’re not going out to legally protest. You’re going to go fuck someone’s shit up.
Monson pled not guilty because that’s how you play the game. You fuck up, get caught, plead not guilty, then hope for a plea bargain or for your lawyer to get it thrown out. That’s the game. The same game that Monson claims to want no part of.
my point was, man the fuck up! If you’re an Anarchist, be an Anarchist! Tell the cops, the judge, the lawyers, the court reporters, the stenographers, the bailiffs, and anyone else in the courtroom to go fuck themselves! Tell them “you’re damn right I did it, because I don’t believe in your rules and laws and I feel that I am immune to your judgement and discipline based on my beliefs”,
I think Monson just wanted some attention/press and that now he’s dealing with the reality of the situation and he’s compromising his beliefs to stay out of prison. Period.
I think it’s Occam’s Razor that states, “the most obvious explanation is usually the right one”. This seems to be one of those situations.
"The path to enlightenment is through suffering"
by RearNakedChoker on Jul 29, 2009 6:09 PM EDT up reply actions
Charles Bennett is the most anarchic MMA fighter anyways. Deeds, not thoughts!
It ends in an armbar or a strangle regardless.
Chaotic Neutral: When Sanity is too Confining.
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Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
by Scott C. Broussard on Jul 29, 2009 6:58 PM EDT up reply actions 3 recs
rec’d.
There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.
by misterjonez on Jul 29, 2009 11:58 PM EDT up reply actions
"The path to enlightenment is through suffering"
by RearNakedChoker on Jul 29, 2009 7:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Wouldn’t a real anarchist do some “this court can’t try me” stuff?
Just pleading guilty without a deal in place is a good way to let “the establishment” toss the book at you.
Anarchy
a: absence of government b: a state of lawlessness or political disorder due to the absence of governmental authority c: a utopian society of individuals who enjoy complete freedom without government.
“not guilty” is Jeffs way of protesting what he believes to be a flawed system & creating more chaos, or well, …. ANARCHY.
No, not guilty is what everyone pleads. This isn’t some anarchist bullshit.
Nobody pleads guilty at the first hearing. Nobody. Even if they have you dead to rights. You plead not guilty then negotiate with the prosecutor.
Captain Anarchist will end up doing some community service and pay some fine to avoid jail time.
ANARCHY!
Because he’s a professional athlete with a career to worry about, and getting that contract derailed to spend 6-12 months in federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison is stupid and expensive.
So he will deal, maybe do a PSA about graffiti or something, and be out in time to not breach his contacts and get sued into a coma.
The real anarchy move would be to deny the authority of the court to try him. Pleading not guilty is implicitly accepting that authority, was my point.
ALSO,
All of your points about what Jeff “will” do are coming from the perspective of a “normal” thinking person. A “normal” or rational person wouldn’t have spray-painted the Washinton state capital building in the 1st place, and certainly would not have allowed pictures to be taken 4 publishing in ESPN Magazine.
Uh, he already missed the boat.
I just popped over to the Washington state statutes, and malicious mischief 1st degree is a class B felony (8 years +) and 3rd degree is a gross misdemeanor, (less than 1 year).
This ain’t peanuts, and my guess is ole Jeffy is regretting his publicity stunt at the moment. Count on it—- Jeff will show up in a suit and tie and make a nice plea deal.
What he did is stupid, but damn, the courts are blowing this way out of proportion, imo. Go get the freakin’ child molesters and such off the streets.
If you're not submitting, you're just rolling around with another guy.
False dichotomy—- until all murders and molesters are in jail, I should get to tag the Washington monument. Huh?
No, not at all, but nice job of putting words in my mouth.
20,000 bail and taking the passport is freakin ridiculous.
By taking his passport they are greatly impacting his ability to work at his chosen profession. Are they afraid he is a flight risk for tagging the building? Give me a break. Just like I said, it is getting blown out of proportion. Monson himself has already said he regrets it and will find a different way to express himself. Keep his bail money, go through the court, fine him and give him public service and let’s spend less time on jackass actions like this and more on the serious crimes, just like I said.
Nice try at twisting my post though, even if I stated what he did was “stupid” and nowhere did I say what he did is ok as long as serious criminals roam the streets.
If you're not submitting, you're just rolling around with another guy.
AND keep in mind they took his passport when he has yet to be found guilty of anything.
If you're not submitting, you're just rolling around with another guy.
I love Jeff Monson
Speak your mind at all times I say!!!
Plus if he isn’t allowed out of the US than Strikeforce (or even the UFC again) could pick him up and put a couple of interesting fights together.
Vs Brett Rogers would be able to answer a lot of questions we all have about Rogers.
I’d love to see a Monson VS Mir matchup. Outside of Minotauro they are the premier heavyweight Submissions guys on the go. It would be incredible to watch.
Where do you get the balls to plead not guilty when there’s a picture of you doing it? Take a note, Michael Phelps, you pussy.
When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are in a confederacy against him. - Jonathan Swift
by Derek Suboticki on Jul 29, 2009 3:11 PM EDT reply actions
He is just following the "3 D's"
Deny, Deny, Deny…for what it’s worth I don’t think that pic looks like him much. Even tho it is him…
Be a man, not a child-Phil Anselmo
My view of this....
ignore that he is a fighter. What would be your response if he was just some random guy on the street. This is something a delinquent teenager does. How does this act in anyway constructively advance the position of anarchism in America? From what I understand, his big beef comes from US foreign policy and their conduct of the Iraq and Afghan military offensives. He couldn’t think of anything that would bring more attention to this in a more productive fashion? How about touring a VA hospital? It would bring cameras around to show the terrible toll that many have been asked to bear in the country, something that sure as hell isn’t shown enough. Or perhaps do a tour for military members fresh from a deployment. Oh wait…that would require effort and thought… No its much easy to just use spray paint to deface a building…that’s going to really change the world….
"The ball always seems to find Ed Reed...The man is a menace
"
by UMBC Oriole fan on Jul 29, 2009 6:41 PM EDT reply actions
So, I just read over at Yahoo that Monson pled (pleaded?) guilty after all. Something about an Alford plea, where he doesn’t admit guilt, but recognizes there’s enough evidence to convict…
What the fuck is that!?
I know we got a few legal beagles around here, so can someone shed some light on this?
"The path to enlightenment is through suffering"
by RearNakedChoker on Jul 29, 2009 9:21 PM EDT reply actions
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