This is a new one for me. Maybe I haven’t been paying attention. How hard can these people be to find in a world full of Ring doorbells and surveillance cameras?
I’m guessing that locations with higher concentrations of SUV’s will have fewer people inclined to do this.
Also, it’s not safe to drive on deflated tires. This is an act of violence, and if they mess with the wrong person, it’s not going to end well.
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The Daily Mail is a tabloid literally only one step above the National Enquirer. Can you find a more credible source?
Is there anything from local Boston news, perhaps?
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Thank you. I never read Daily Mail articles. It’s really bad.
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My brother lives in Beacon Hill and has his SUV parked on the street. Around midnight last night he realized he hadn’t moved it in a while and was going to get a ticket so he went down and found a new spot. He moved it from a quiet side street to a busy corner in front of a Starbucks and his tires were fine, I’m guessing the only hit the quiet/darker side streets so he was lucky.
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The original article said tires slashed but also said tires deflated. Both are bad of course, but slashing much worse. I’m an earth care advocate, but I dislike this kind of tactic.
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The difference between a tabloid claiming that a “maddening eco-mob” “climate zealots” “wreak havoc”, and that accurate bit of reporting “slashed Tires”, and a more reputable news sources reporting that “climate activists deflate tires”.
Not that I would expect anything less from this tabloid.
I guess that if they are both “Climate Activists” and “Climate Zealots”, that means that they have this climate thing down from A to Z…
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Here’s an even better article. Climate activists target wealthy Beacon Hill, deflating tires of 43 SUVs
I clicked through to the group-that-did-it’s website and they have a link on how to deflate a tire. They don’t slash them or hurt the SUVs. They deflate the tires by letting the air out of them and leave a leaflet describing why they did it and their goals.
The Boston.com article says one resident missed a doctor’s appointment. Didn’t sound like any other harm was done and said most people whose vehicles had been targeted were re-inflating their tires, so I think no tires were harmed.
Y’all please don’t read the Daily Mail. It’s very bad. If you want conservative news from the UK look at the Times or the Telegraph. The Guardian is lefty. The Independent is fairly center. The Daily Mail, The Sun, and The Daily Express are all terrible tabloids. The Daily Mail is being sued for privacy breaches.
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I will admit the group found a way to get a lot of free press.
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One needs a tire inflator to do this safely. You don’t want to overinflate one… people have been hurt by exploding tires. It is not a harmless prank.
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I’m pretty sure that was the intention. They could have just left the same information on the windshield rather than under the deflated tire. And hitting Beacon Hill (probably the most expensive real estate in Boston proper) was no coincidence either.
I live locally. I saw the coverage on the local news. They showed the cars, gave the name of the group, showed their literature and read off the part about alternatives to SUVs. So all in all, I’d say they got exactly what they wanted.
I share their environmental concerns, I condemn their methods. As far as “destruction” goes, I agree, it’s about as benign as it could get, but in my world, you don’t touch other people’s property without permission. In most places (although maybe not Boston), this would immediately turn people off from their cause. Better to reach those that may actually be willing to listen through a more targeted campaign.
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I don’t think the group doing it intended as a “prank”, but as @vwlizard said to get press coverage for their group and their action.
I’m sure we would have definitely heard about it if anyone had been hurt by an exploding tire. I think this specific action was pretty harmless except for the person who missed their doctor’s appointment.
And It’s not that hard to put air in a tire, but if you don’t know how to use a tire gauge and re-inflate a tire you can call AAA.
I agree that this action is likely to make some people angry and I doubt it converted any of the SUV owners to their cause, but it got people talking, which is what they wanted.
I just hope that folks reading this thread learn not to trust the Daily Mail!
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I have not said that anyone in this incident was hurt by an exploding tire. Just brought this very real possibility to counter your statement that inflating tires is simply a nuisance.
This amounts to nothing more than a prank and will achieve nothing other than an angry reaction. If the SUVs are a menace to the planet, start with the makers, not the people who might have bought one out of necessity because nothing else was available recently…
obviously it’s not just a prank since it has worldwide press coverage. Toilet-papering someone’s car or house before the big game is a prank.
Let’s see some stats on people hurt by exploding tires while re-inflating them. I’m sure it’s less than people tripping over their own feet or falling off a ladder while getting toilet paper out of a tree.
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Who in their sane mind would go on a ladder to remove TP out of a tree? 
That’s what rain is for! 
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How much good for the planet did the art defacing do? Zip. None. This is in the same category.
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For me, the only way to put air in the tire will be calling AAA and waiting a couple lot hours for them to get to me? Their action is so judgmental. People who drive an SUV could be climate conscious in other ways. I drive one but I waste very little, reuse whenever possible, etc. Can people be climate conscious in a way they choose? I’d like to examine their lifestyle. Good chance they are harming the earth in their own way. We all do. Everyone trying to minimize on their own terms should be good enough. I don’t see anything wrong using “zealots” to describe them. They are zealots.
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Have to give Daily Mail some credit… or it would’ve stayed a local Boston news item. 
If it takes a couple of hours for AAA to get to you, you can pump it up faster with a floor pump (of the type usually used for bicycles).
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