An incident of what appeared to be racist graffiti on a business in the Bayview, complete with a swastika and charges of a hate crime, turns out to have been just the misguided shenanigans of a local artist who admits he was "wasted" at the time and acting out in anger about Donald Trump's victory. SFist noted last week after the announcement of the arrest which came with a press release from the SFPD that the man arrested, David Chacon, might be the same person who posted this photo of himself with a Hitler mustache to Facebook in 2013. It seems that this time his Nazi reference was in direct reference to Trump, and also seems to have been coupled with anger toward a new craft brewery in the neighborhood that represents gentrification. "I’ve got to work on my message big time," Chacon says, talking about his arrest with the Bay Area Reporter.
Chacon, 33, is Hispanic and says he identifies as "queer," though he also says "I don't do identities." He says that on Thursday, November 17, at around 4:15 p.m., he had downed seven shots of whiskey on an empty stomach, after which he said his anger about the election was "amplified," and he took it out on the wall of Laughing Monk Brewing, spray-painting a swastika and the phrase "Fuck White People."
Someone came out from the brewery and apparently caught Chacon red-handed, and yelled at him, after which the police were called and he was arrested on the spot. "It’s not a racist thing, it’s not a hate thing," Chacon says, adding "I was not thinking straight.”
He was also accused of vandalizing a Toyota pickup truck on the same block, the 1400 block of Egbert Street, but he does not remember this part.
Chacon remained in jail for five days, getting released on November 22 shortly after speaking with the Bay Area Reporter and offering up a public apology. Despite admitting to the vandalism, Chacon says he pleaded not guilty in the case. Friends refused to post bail for him, he said, because he deserved to spend some time thinking about what he did.
Chacon has previously been arrested for public intoxication.
Previously: Man Arrested In Bayview For Spraying Racist Graffiti
