Chicago City Sticker Dumped Over Alleged Gang Signs, Artist's Mother Blames 'Haters'

Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza announced Wednesday afternoon that a controversial design for the city's new vehicle sticker, which allegedly referenced gang signs, will be dumped in favor of the second-place design from a citywide contest held late last year.

Mendoza said Wednesday that the sticker design would not be appropriate given the city's expansive history of struggles with gang violence, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Her decision reportedly came after an investigation and consultation with gang experts affiliated with both the Chicago Police Department and at the Chicago Crime Commission, according to CBS Chicago.

"I cannot ask Chicagoans to put a sticker on their car that experts believe may be misconstrued as containing gang symbols," Mendoza said, as reported by CBS.

The winning design, created by Herbert Pulgar, a 15-year-old Lawrence Hall Youth Services freshman, came under fire on a blog frequently read by Chicago police Tuesday. The blogger argued that the artwork -- which shows four hands held up in the air above a heart, a city skyline and symbols representing firefighters, police officers and paramedics -- referenced signs signifying the Maniac Latin Disciples, one of Chicago's most notorious gangs.

Jody Weis, former Chicago Police Department Superintendent and current president of the Chicago Crime Commission, told the Chicago Tribune Tuesday that the hands in the sticker design likely do reference gang signs and iconography.

Earlier Wednesday, Pulgar's mother, Jessica Loor, denied that the sticker design had anything to do with gang signs and also denied that her son was a member of any gang.

"I am very upset. I feel very upset that something so positive could be so negative," Loor said Wednesday, the Chicago Tribune reports. "I feel there's a lot of haters. They can make anything out of anything."

The family's attorney, Blake Horwitz, said that Weis owed the teen an apology as he has suffered anxiety attacks and had trouble sleeping since the allegations surfaced, according to the Tribune.

Pulgar's art teacher, Janice Gould, also defended the teen's design. According to NBC Chicago, she gave the boy a booklet that he used as a reference for the hands depicted in the sticker. She said the controversy "has undone" the positive impact winning the contest had for him.

Several police blogs, however, have shared photos and comments from Pulgar's Facebook page that they allege provide further evidence of the teen's gang affiliation.

While the blogs have contended that Pulgar is likely affiliated with the MLD, Chicago magazine points out that the notorious gang's colors are blue or light blue, not the red which other sources have incorrectly claimed represent the gang.

Eighteen thousand Chicagoans voted for Pulgar's design and the boy won a $1,000 savings bond in the contest . He said late last year that he was inspired to dedicate his design to first responders after they "saved his life" when he was badly burned during a fire at the age of 4.

Comments

[Josephe Algongatrontron]

02:47 PM on 02/25/2012

Horse****. Detroit's local government could obviously benefit more from avoiding looking like paranoid hysterical lunatics than from successfully avoiding placing decals with pictures of hearts and hands on people's windshields. Another perfect example of how idiotically, insanely, and hypocritically the whole sphere of elected politics operates.

[Thatisallfornow]

08:24 PM on 02/23/2012

To the young artist: Take this opportunity to spin something positive out of the city office's obvious blunder. You are now instantly a somewhat FAMOUS artist who just won a major contest with over 18 000 people in your favor. I think you should be proud of your drawing, be classy and get out and hit the talk show circuit PRONTO and sell T-shirts with your great design and a slogan that reflects your appreciation and passion in regard to the first responders and heroes of Chicago who really are the heart of the city and make the city a wonderful place - and don't let a bunch of foolish and insidious municipal bureaucrats ruin your day buddy! This is a great opportunity. Go with God on this one.

[Sayanii]

02:00 AM on 02/18/2012

The kid should have been given the option to change the hands, then. Since the hands were the problem.

[Reality now]

12:28 PM on 02/10/2012

LOL...is ANYONE really fooled by this nonsense? This is just a thinly veiled excuse by people who don't like the color of the hands.

[steelman41]

11:10 AM on 02/10/2012

I used to work with troubled teens. One day I was told to go home because I was wearing an adidas shirt and some gang or another identified with the shirt. I told the manager that I wasnt going to let some warped gang bangers perception of reality dictate to me what I could and couldnt wear....dont know if we have the same situation here but in general we shouldnt let these thugs dictate to the rest of us what is and is not a gang symbol when it comes to things in the public domain. What if some gang decides the peace sign is their new symbol. Does that mean the rest of us cant use it anymore? Wake up people.

[ChicagoTRS]

11:41 AM on 02/10/2012

Well when a known gang member designs the sticker and includes references to his particular gang in the sticker...yes I think it is the right idea to scrap the sticker design and go with another entry.

[ellisclevenger]

02:17 PM on 02/10/2012

Where, anywhere, does it say that Mr. Herbert Pulgar is a known gang member? Please provide proof. Where was the concern when his entry was first submitted?

[Sayanii]

01:57 AM on 02/18/2012

The kid wasn't a known gang member.. his "troubled past" was because he was in a fire. Get your facts straight.

[GibsonSG]

02:55 PM on 02/12/2012

And who do you blame when the warped gang bangers curb stomp you for wearing their symbols? Have fun in intensive care, tough guy.

[steelman41]

09:50 PM on 02/12/2012

And there you have the mindset of someone who lets gangs infiltrate and take over neighborhoods because they are too scared to stand up for their basic rights. Have fun being a prisoner on your own block and I will take my chances.

[FiredUpRTG]

10:07 AM on 02/10/2012

Whether the kid did on purpose or subliminally, since they're probably flashed everywhere, we should not mass-produce anything that gang members will proudly claim as their own. It's enough people wear clothes and jewelry in their style. Let the kid keep the prize, as it was a mistake on the officials' part for not noticing it sooner and rejecting the poster during behind closed doors judging. But his design has to be disqualified.

They think he has a gift at graphic design; give him an opportunity to do something else without gang influence. Now is not the time to shun the kid completely and never see him again.

[ChicagoTRS]

09:22 AM on 02/10/2012

Read the true details here: http://sec­­ondcityco­p­.blogspo­t.­com/
(scroll the last few days for all of the facts)
This police blog has even more details: http://www.shavedlongcock.blogspot.com/
(understand the URL is a bit obscene but it it a Chicago police blog)

See his FB gang posts...
Herbert choir boy was arrested this past Oct for burglary...
See his ganged up pictures/c­hats...
See his father wanted by FBI/Interp­ol...
Herbert has gang affiliation tattoo on right shoulder (oops)...

Do a little investigat­­ion...the true PC spin is the mainstream medias reporting of this story.

The kid is an admitted active gang member. You can be blind to the imagery but anyone who lives in these neighborho­­ods immediatel­­y understands the symbolism. The Chicago street cops were the ones who immediatel­­y recognized the imagery and broke this story. As a resident I do not want this gang trash sticker on my vehicle. There an estimated 150,000 active gang members in this city and the gang this kid is associated with is one of the worst of the worst. They were responsible for shooting up a park this summer and severely injuring a 2 and a 7 year old girl. Gangs terrorize this city. Save your pity for the victims of gang violence.

Generally I am an anti-PC person...but in this case...the city did the right thing.

[GibsonSG]

03:08 PM on 02/12/2012

Thanks for putting up some information that is being ignored by everyone else for some reason.

[triactorpat]

08:52 PM on 02/16/2012

Right on...finally some common sense on this matter!

[Stephen Normandin]

08:34 AM on 02/10/2012

the hands should have money in them portray the real corruption in Chicago, ITS just more PC BS I hope they sue

[Davepw718]

07:27 AM on 02/10/2012

How about a simple solution, change the hands. It seems like this is a good kid, who coincidentally made a sign that is similar to gang sign. It doesn't seem like he wanted to sneak in a gang sign. So, change the hands and all is well

[momosan1]

06:18 AM on 02/10/2012

There are winners and there are losers..but after actuallly viewing the live footage....and seeing where he got the design from..they do owe him an apology. I think when they found out he was a troubled teen from a "therapeutic" high school, they shuttered at the thought. So...they had to "find" something wrong with the artwork. The city could have easily approached the winner,his family, and school, and informed them that they would like to "modify" the final product sticker and open up the hands a bit more. It is an easy fix, yet they made something out of nothing..... and I as the parent would sue them....to prove a point. Making that type of suggestion about gang affiliation is no joke. I think the city is walking the fine line of libel/defamation. Shame on them!!!

[Cody30]

05:43 AM on 02/10/2012

Idiots could not have their gang division look into the symbol BEFORE the award was given? Poor kid is going to suffer from his peers for this embarrassment. Oh well that is government for you.

[CptMalReynolds]

05:33 AM on 02/10/2012

While I personally prefer the runner-ups design, I think this whole situation is rather ridiculous. They say the hands look not dissimilar to the gang sign they showed. I disagree. I say they look very dissimilar. I feel like the evidence brought up by the art teacher is enough to prove he had no intent to show any gang affiliation. This just seems like a case of an overzealous blogger. Followed by overzealous cops who kept the ball rolling until the city clerk had no choice but to withdraw it.
Honestly if they really saw the hands as a problem the photo could have been edited by the teen or by professionals so that the hands were either in a different position or removed all together.

[strangeshadow]

05:32 AM on 02/10/2012

This is ridiculous, the city should be sued...since they have a lawyer, it sounds like they will be.
The Original kid even looks like he may have a learning disability...I work with such kids 247...maybe, maybe not...

Break a kids heart, for a two month work, and give it to a girl who looks like she drew something I could in kindergarten.

Why couldn't he just redraw the hands?

Ridiculous...not personal? she says, yeah, tell that to the original kid, did she visit him and tell him in person...I doubt it.

[hpycmpr155]

05:30 AM on 02/10/2012

"OUTRAGED"
There's that word again.......

[Dennis Buckley]

04:59 AM on 02/10/2012

The City seal should have simply had a drawing of a toilet.

[Cody30]

05:44 AM on 02/10/2012

Thanks for the morning laugh!