KTVU reports that deplorable teen Andrew Yarbrough a.k.a. "Cryst," the accused graffiti tagger who has smeared awnings and walls from Market Street to Treasure Island, is due in court today. There, he's expected to ask that a judge reduce the 10 felony charges against him to misdemeanor charges like the 19 others he faces. What's more, officials say he's been back to his tagging ways after being released on his own recognizance, spraying "Cryst" and "Sheep" with abandon to the tune of an estimate $50,000 in damage.
Followers of Cryst's work — whose central question seems to be "What if Banksy, but meth?" — know that the 18-year-old was finally apprehended in March while admiring and photographing his own work in Dolores Park. "Cryst," he brought KTVU up to speed, "means crystal meth, and sheep means conformist gentrification and all that other shit."
Yarbrough, who seems to have digitally tagged the SFist comments on articles about himself, has defended his political message as anti-meth, which he claims to no longer use. "Weak?" he responded to one negative comment about his oeuvre, "It's not meant to be pretty or artsy its a fucking political tag." Further, in a post on Google plus, Cryst wrote that "Graffiti is a game where you know your winning based on how many people despise you ;)"
"When you have someone as prolific as 'Cryst,' who's just all over the place in a serious way," Supervisor Scott Wiener and notable anti-Cryst activist says things are difficult. "Not only does it cost a lot of money, but it's hard to even keep up!"
In response to one SFist comment that read "Free Cryst," the tagger or his impersonator responded earnestly. "Thanks!" he wrote, "I hope to only get community service, fines or incarceration would ruin my life." As Chronicle scold C.W. Nevius writes, a soft sentence is likely to be the outcome.
Previously: Alleged 'Cryst' Tagger Faces 29 Counts Of Vandalism, Might Be Defending His Tags In SFist Comments