Snopes posts a piece on Air Force One "Tagging" video

[RobertSeattle]

http://www.snopes.com/photos/airplane/tagging.asp

Claim: Video clip shows Marc Ecko tagging Air Force One.

Example:

Comment: Marc Ecko has posted on his official website a video of him supposedly tagging the aircraft referenced as Air Force One when the PotUS is onboard.

www.stillfree.com

Considering the official disclaimer on the website states "Marc Ecko Enterprises does not condone illegal activity, acts of vandalism, or the destruction of other people's property. . .", I was wondering if you could dig up the truth behind this.

Origins: Given the pervasive security that now surrounds the President of the United States and just about everything associated with him, it's a bit far-fetched to think that a couple of pranksters could sneak onto an Air Force base, tag Air Force One with spray paint (while the other person recorded the event with a videocamera), and escape unscathed — and even more astoundingly, not a word of the feat reached any news outlet.

The video clip appears to be the product of some judicious editing, and perhaps a surreptitious visit to the Boeing 747 that was painted to replicate the insignia and color scheme of Air Force One for the 1997 action film Air Force One, undertaken while the plane was parked unguarded at a metropolitan airport (probably Los Angeles).

[wtmusic]

1. Snopes ahead of themselves

WTF? Anyone can come up with an opinion like that.

[Atman]

2. My take on it, as long as Snopes can speculate now, too!

Hell, I was expecting him to post something that actual proved or disproved the video. He does raise a couple of good points, such as the likelihood that THREE MEN would be able to scale that fence unnoticed and then be able to spend that much time next to AF1 without being noticed. Just smells funny. But since we're just speculating, I'm going to go one step further...

It is one thing pulling off a daring stunt or a stupid prank. But this "stunt" could very possibly have been met with deadly force. Shoot to kill orders, from what I understand. Lots of people will risk getting arrested for a crazy stunt that will get them good PR. Lots of people will risk the off-chance that bungee cord will snap or a parachute won't open. But who the hell risks shoot-to-kill orders and possible life imprisonment and the serious repercussions which come with fucking with the president, when it wasn't even for a true political statement. He just pained his URL on the plane, not FUCK BUSH, or OUT OF IRAQ or something meaningful. For that reason, I'm so far on the side of the "very good editing job" people. I just don't buy it.

[wtmusic]

4. agree -- and your argument is better nt

[Frank Cannon]

3. The video is a hoax

I can tell you as someone who's had personal experience with the President's Secret Service detail. (During a previous administration, when security was still tight but nowhere near as paranoid as it is now).

There is absolutely no possible way that three guys can get near AF-1 to "tag" it and videotape their escapade, regardless of whether the President is on the plane or not. Those guys would have been face down and in handcuffs (at best) before they even got within several hundred yards of the plane. They wouldn't even know what hit them.

It's a very well-produced hoax, but a hoax nonetheless.