This photo by Irfan Khan for the Los Angeles Times documents an incident that took place in Los Angeles yesterday: A band called The Imperial Stars, who describe themselves as a "hard core hip hop band from Orange County," stopped a truck in the middle of the 101 freeway, jumped out, plugged in their instruments, and performed their latest single, "Traffic Jam 101." I'll withhold opinion on their music, but being stuck in traffic behind some publicity-hungry band from OC sure sucks. I hope LAPD makes them perform some really humiliating form of community service, like shining Ernest Borgnine's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame while whistling Justin Bieber songs.

LA Times item here, and longer piece from last night here.

How do you think they should be punished? Your recommendations welcome in the comments. (Update: Ah, the LA Weekly has already collected some doozies.)

Update: The band members have been charged with misdemeanor conspiracy.

Read more in Music at Boing Boing

Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

MORE: Funny • music • pop culture

More at Boing Boing

Ants and Stars: Bruce Sterling and Jasmina Tesanovic visit the Sardinia Radio Telescope in Italy

The Snowden Principle

Anonymous

Sentence them to traffic jams for a month. Twice a day for 5 days each week they should be put into a 60′s muscle car with no A/C and sent to the back end of the worst jam in the county that hour. The muscle car is for effect; they have the to power to move but can’t and they’re less maneuverable than newer cars. They’re a lot less comfortable than an Acura and a rougher ride. If they smoke, take their cigs away. And only give them one 8 track tape (Carpenters) and/or an AM radio.
ill lich

I’d say being a bunch of no-talent white guys trying to start a serious career in hip hop (by playing acoustic guitar, no less) is punishment enough, especially after this stunt has probably made them among the most hated people in LA. Milli Vanilli they ain’t (because Milli Vanilli actually DID have some talent.) Let them struggle along with it for a few more years until their souls are completely crushed and they have to get jobs at Carl’s Jr or Jack In The Box, preferably at the drive through, for some irony.

Jail time might only give them street cred.
treacle

Perhaps they can be required to play all of their concerts with mis-tuned instruments. Differently mistuned each time.
Myself

It’s not even something original

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR6kVM6Ntuo
- Baron Karza
  
  Not at all original, but with variations that increase the stupidity factor by orders of magnitude. In 1972 the Alice Cooper band stalled a panel truck with a huge picture of Alice naked, wrapped only in a giant snake, in Piccadilly Circus for several hours. (scroll down this link a ways to see the photo of Alice) and it was a terrific effective stunt:
  http://forum.nightswithalicecooper.com/printer_friendly_posts.asp?TID=742
  The stupidity-increasing variations this band of space d-bags introduced would be that 2010 LA freeways are nothing at all like 1972 Circus traffic, and, duh hello, you’re ALREADY IN L.A. the hub of advertising and entertainment noise!! Alice was quite popular in Britain at the time though they didn’t get out there much, so it made more sense to try it there, he would never be so dumb as to try that in L.A.. I’m not sure if Alice’s stunt was pulled before or after they were banned from the UK, but I think they were banned because of an unfortunate chicken that got thrown onto the stage and then back into the audience (and got shredded by the crowd) on animal cruelty charges, though the band had very little to do with that.
Tgg161

“rock and roll stops the traffic”
Anonymous

What miserable judgment those boneheads have. They sunk their own careers right out of the gate. It reminds me of the time Herb Tarlek dropped all those turkeys out of a helicopter on WKRP in Cincinatti.
I think they should hand-write personal apologies to anyone they held up in that little stunt. “Who do you think you are?”
Like in Breakfast Club.
Brainspore

Reminiscent of that early ’90s douchebag shock jock who blocked the Bay Bridge during rush hour so he could get a haircut. (It was supposed to be some kind of witty statement about Bill Clinton’s infamous $200 haircut aboard Air Force One, even though that incident didn’t actually delay any flights.)
ackpht

30 years of commuting 3 hours a day on 101 going back and forth to jobs they hate but can’t afford to quit.
Rob Cockerham

Isn’t punishing this band the stated purpose of the Empire’s Imperial Star Destroyer?

On the bright side, this stunt may have revealed a critical fault with the LAPD’s freeway anti-terror plan. Can one really stop traffic for two hours by stopping a truck and running away? That’s unacceptable.
- Mark Frauenfelder
  
  Good point, Rob. It’s so easy to hurt the flow of day-to-day business and commerce in industrialized places. A couple of weeks ago my flight was delayed for over 8 hours because someone flushed a diaper down the toilet on the plane, clogging the entire system.
LeSinge

Not sure why the post says that it happened last night. It was Tuesday morning.

I agree that NOT posting the name of the band (and possibly blurring it in photos of the incident) would be a great start. LA Times embedded their music video and after watching it, I have a hard time being mad. They are really, really bad and pathetic.
Krackatoa

I have to commute 50 minutes to and from work everyday, 40 on a good day.

Teach them a lesson, Mr. Criminal Justice System.
shadowfirebird

Make them perform a 20-minute medley of Perry Como / Rolf Harris hits.

At every gig they do for the next five years.
Anonymous

Fine them for all costs associated with their stunt and revoke their driving privileges (shred their driver’s licenses) for a period not less than 3 years.
Rob Cockerham

Don’t miss my impromptu trombone performance at their arraignment.
John Greg

Good heavens!

Imagine that, they stopped traffic. Stopped traffic!

Maybe ya’ll ought to just hang them. In a public square. With children in attendance. And draw and quarter them too. Ya. That’s the ticket.

I mean, really, just imagine, stopping traffic! To make music!!

Wow. What a vile, evil, wicked, mean and nasty heinous crime that is indeed.

/Mama they inconwenienced me. Can I kill ‘em now?
- Brainspore
  
  John: it’s called hyperbole. I would wager that few of us here would actually kill these gentlemen in cold blood if given the chance.
  
  As for whether the anger is justified, absolutely. If you’ve ever been stuck in L.A. traffic you might well understand how unfathomably frustrating it would be to learn that someone had made it even worse, on purpose.
  
  Add to that the fact that among the thousands of people forcibly kept prisoner in their sweltering cars for hours on end doubtlessly included people who were late to work, missed appointments, missed flights, missed picking up their kids, maybe even a few who were on the way to an emergency room and yeah, frothing rage seems pretty appropriate.
- Anonymous
  
  So, John–how long you been unemployed? Because if you had a job and had to drive the 101 to get there, you’d have a whole different perspective.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Imagine that, they stopped traffic. Stopped traffic!
  
  Dude, did you not read the comment about the woman missing her final nursing exam? Have you ever heard of these things called children that have to be picked up from childcare on time if you don’t want Child Protective Services on your ass? Do you know that plenty of bosses will fire you for showing up late to work once? Or that the innumerable hourly wage slaves that make up LA’s underclass can’t afford to lose even one hour’s pay?
  - Phikus
    
    Not to mention the fact that I’m sure the freeway was not empty when they pulled this stunt. Stopping unexpectedly in just one lane is extremely dangerous, much less pulling across several to then pull to a halt. They are lucky massive pile-ups did not ensue, as frequently happens with no douche-baggery involved. At the very least, reckless endangerment should be on the list of charges.
- bob d
  
  Stopping traffic to make music? No, more like stopping traffic to be self-indulgent a-holes looking for publicity; music had nothing to do with it. (They weren’t actually even performing for anyone.)
  
  Inconvenienced? They essentially held people captive on the road for an extra hour. They’re lucky they didn’t cause any accidents (although actually, perhaps they did). People were demonstrably *hurt* in other ways by this, however. We have one comment above mentioning a nursing test that was failed due to the person not being able to get to it. People missed airplane flights, job interviews, lost wages, couldn’t get to hospitals, blocked emergency vehicles, etc. There are going to be any number of stories of people’s lives who were turned upside down just because a few sociopaths simply didn’t care what impact they had on other people’s lives.
  - CapnSoggy
    
    bob d,
    
    John Greg has presented a reality check you don’t want to hear.
    
    People were inconvenienced in a city with a population density of over 8000/sq.mi.
    Yes, the consequences for some were significant, but really, if you are counting on trouble-free traffic on any urban highway to keep your critical schedule, you are not planning rationally.
    
    Is it aggravating that the cause of your delay was some idiot’s publicity stunt? Absolutely, however it is Hwy 101 in LA, a city pretty much founded as a publicity stunt, so how shocked are you supposed to be.
    
    If urban woes get you murderously angry, perhaps you should consider relocating to Wyoming or the Dakotas.
    - Brainspore
      
      Yes, the consequences for some were significant, but really, if you are counting on trouble-free traffic on any urban highway to keep your critical schedule, you are not planning rationally.
      
      You’re saying every rational person who drives a car in a city should plan at least an extra hour or two for every trip just in case something like this happens? Seriously?
      
      Also, Los Angeles was founded in the 18th century so I really don’t get how that counts as a “publicity stunt.”
    - Anonymous
      
      “but really, if you are counting on trouble-free traffic on any urban highway to keep your critical schedule, you are not planning rationally.”
      
      Right. You should tell that to the one in the ambulance.
- Anonymous
  
  Let me know the next time you are in a hurry to get to work and I will block you for an hour or two. No prob right? Maybe it is even a wage slave job where you lose money or even get fired for ever being late.
- Anonymous
  
  You would not be postng such a sarcastic comment if you had to sit in that traffic jam and ended up missing something really important!
Anonymous

Douche Extra freakin Masingil Style douche bags … super duty even !!!
Anonymous

Since their stupid stunt could have caused a major accident,
they should have to help clean up after every accident on the various freeways in Southern CA for at least 6 months.
Anonymous

No time to research this now but I’m sure some law professor will put this into an exam soon.

Criminal Liability?:

I haven’t found any misdemeanors yet, just infractions.

Tort Liability?:

Public safety response is one thing – seems like you could enforce some sort of hefty fine on them for that. But is there any way to enforce liability on these guys for causing traffic to back up for thousands of people(?)

It doesn’t really matter how any of us think they should be punished. The more interesting question, at least for an attorney (or law student with some time on their hands!), is how _can_ they be punished?
- grimc
  
  The more interesting question, at least for an attorney (or law student with some time on their hands!), is how _can_ they be punished?
  
  They’ve been charged with
  
  - malicious and willful disturbance by loud noise
  - willful obstruction of public officers or emergency medical personnel
  - committing an act injuring the public health
  - unlawful assembly.
  
  At least a couple of those can involve jail time, and I bet the DA will come up with a couple more charges. This isn’t an interesting legal puzzle–this is a cut and dried case of gonads deserving the book thrown at them.
an0nymous

It looks to me like that truck is only blocking 2 lanes of traffic.. that really shut down the whole works?
For that matter couldn’t they just throw a tow-strap around the front axle and drag the thing into the outermost lane?
UncaScrooge

The band name and all of the images used, including the actual physical appearances of the musicians should become public property.

Their band name and image would be up for grabs for a couple of years of internet-based irony until we were all sick of the joke.

Actually, this is already possible. Have at it, internet. Let’s see the Imperial Stars sue everyone for copyright infringement.
boingboingdave

while i commend all charity, it just seems slimey – this band who jams freeways for exposure trying to push sales by giving proceeds to homeless. I encourage everyone to just give your money directly to the charity itself, so the charity gets all of it, and these asshats see none of it.
Dave Faris

Maybe this is what it comes to in order to get attention in LA, the land of self-promotion. Sitting on the other side of the continent, I’m not able to work up much emotion for your plight, though I imagine we’d want their blood as bad as you do if it happened out here.
nowimrofl

If your friends aint ravin about your cd and givin it to their friends and so on and so on … and u gotta do some dum sht like this… you know what that is?? The first sign homelessness.
nowimrofl

Bwahahahahaaa… Read #98′s comment and chech the link!!! Case Closed!!! Bwahhahahahaa..
braininavat

Obviously the punishment should be a brief period of fame – everyone knows THAT will ruin your life.
Anonymous

Given that this stunt is the only reason anyone has heard of them, can laws preventing people profiting from their own crimes be used to stop the making money under their newly-infamous band name?
- Anonymous
  
  Having heard a bit of the “music,” I don’t think there will be much in the way of “profits” to be confiscated.
Teller

Bike ride anyone?
- hapa
  
  yeah this is a shockingly reactionary response. where’s the nuance people! whence the vision thing?
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKdnI7DEAsE
Anonymous

No, I wouldn’t kill them. But if I had to pee real bad and they made me wait in traffic I can think of something I would do to them instead.
Anonymous

I Just checked out their music on iTunes (it sucks). One of the reviewers there claims that their mother’s friend died in an ambulance stranded on the highway because of this.
Art

Assholes Ã· Desperate Need for Attention x Really Bad Judgment =

The Imperial Stars
Anonymous

Blocking traffic in L.A. is like burning the Koran in Riyadh. Good luck trying to live it down, guys.
GauchoAmigo

Even though this band made themselves look like jerks, a bunch of people who never would’ve heard of them if not for this stupid stunt are going to check out their music, which means they’re getting what they wanted.

As part of the punishment this story should be removed from every website where it appears. No one should ever talk about this band again.
- Boba Fett Diop
  
  I went to check out their music, and it made me hate them even more.
pinehead

All of their assets should be liquidated and used to pay for first responders and for any losses in wages incurred by the motoring public. If the liquidated amount falls short of the money lost by others (which it will), then the band should be made to labor for the state until they have repaid their debt to society.

When the debt is repaid and they are released by the state, they can start their lives over again and see if they can keep from fucking it up too badly that time around.
mellowknees

I like the suggestion of a whole lot of community service ACTUALLY helping homeless kids…because how much money are they possibly going to make now? Not a good idea to make the whole state of California hate you instantly – not to mention the many thousands of us in other states who have had the lovely experience of driving through LA on 101 and can imagine the horror.

All I have to say is:

Christ, what assholes.
iamanumlaut

Well, there’s one reason to keep Gitmo open.
Boba Fett Diop

For those who think that this is some sort of “we’re being punked” scenario, because the band is kind of shitty or douchey but seems to have some sort of professional-quality production- remember that Brokencyde is a real band:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8F5YSA1Oz0
spool32

So, it turns out the city’s Attorney General was stuck in that traffic jam!

They’re doooomed… http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/city-news/imperial-stars-carmen-trutanic/
Mark Temporis

Last week’s ‘Metalocalypse’ had a band that was very similar. Perhaps ideas could be mined from their fate.
jeligula

I must admit to a bit of bemusement here. These idiots are tagged as douchebags, but Die Antwoord is the epitome of high art? I have to say that I cannot tell the difference between the two.
- MrWednesday
  
  but Die Antwoord is the epitome of high art?
  
  Nope, art definitely, performance art, actually.
- Brainspore
  
  These idiots are tagged as douchebags, but Die Antwoord is the epitome of high art? I have to say that I cannot tell the difference between the two.
  
  Did Die Antwood do something mean and illegal that disrupted and/or endangered the lives of thousands?
  
  Most of us aren’t criticizing this band’s music (I for one will make a point of never listening to it), we’re criticizing their actions. They aren’t douches for making art we don’t like, they’re douches for blocking a major transit artery for cheap publicity and blaming it on homeless kids.
mrparallel

It’s not an honor to shine Ernest Borgine’s star?
yragentman

why couldn’t/wouldn’t the first two CHiPs to arrive get the truck moving out of the flow of traffic. If the band wouldn’t, then one of the CHiPs should have drove it either to the sholder or next exit.

Then, the citations would flow. “Free” publicity is never free.
- grimc
  
  The driver blocked traffic then took off in a car with the keys.
pxlpig

This is exactly why I left So. Cal. And I was born there. Thanks Douchebags!
Xenu

How would you even know if the traffic in LA was blocked? It’s always slow as hell.
dqkennard

The comments about how easy it is to shut down the freeway (and probably all the other major and minor roads in the area) are pertinent. Setting aside the douchiness of those behind this particular event, it is indeed a demonstration of system vulnerability. A ten minute block in LA affects the system for the rest of the day. A deliberate block should be responded to as the terrorist action it is. As quickly and decisively as is possible. “quick as possible” wasn’t quick enough in this case. If I were a terrorist, which I’m not of course, I’d sure be taking notes on this sort of thing. The anti-terrorists are keyed to blatantly destructive actions, so they’re keyed to detecting and preventing actions based on weapons, explosives and that sort of thing. Not just parking something big on the freeway and walking away. Maybe every day for a while, until they’re watching too closely, then doing something else just as easy.

They sure shouldn’t see that truck ever again.
Anonymous

It’s like I tell my kids…

Society only works if everyone agrees to participate in a way that doesn’t wreck it for everyone else.

These people didn’t get that lesson, or don’t care. Either way, they are sociopaths.

I’m assuming their market is teenagers.
Anonymous

Well the criminal charges are minor in the case, but the civil lawsutes crould add up to quite a bit since I’m sure more people than thos that have posted here, lost money or as one person mentioned a graduation because of this. I’m sure there are civil lawyers that would love to chew on this band.
dqkennard

A followup thought:

Rule of thumb: If a reasonable person can’t tell the difference between your actions and terrorism, it’s terrorism.
netsharc

Oh man, it’s the US of A and no one in traffic had a gun with them? One of the few times where guns would be a good thing. And it doesn’t have to be a straight shot to the forehead either, just make sure they’re aware that that ridiculous stunt are going to cost them their lives if they don’t fuck the right off.

Of course it’s interesting what would then happen considering they got rid of the keys to the truck.
fnc

Douchecore isn’t a genre name? If it’s not, we should declare it so and apply it to these guys.
- Niklas
  
  I nominate you for two internets and five lolcats. And Anon (comment #2), hope your friend has the possibility to bring legal action on to these a-holes.
Mark Frauenfelder

How about 18 months in jail and a lifetime ban from ever making “music” of any kind again?
Anonymous

My lovely friend flunked a final nursing test after missing it while sitting in this jam. There was a strict no-make-up policy. What exactly is the point to a stunt that makes an entire city hate you, anyway?
Donald Petersen

See, this right here is the way to do it. Keep moving!

Or, if you’re a latter-day wimpy post-9/11 act that can’t get the permits, fake it.

Finally somebody makes Don Dokken look like a class act!
- Donald Petersen
  
  Then again, the Supersuckers did it best, if you ask me. Four vehicles for maximum mobility!
  
  And all these guys knew to stay off the damn freeway. Last thing a nascent band needs is for its audience to get all Everybody Hurts on the traffic jam. Doucheicide is sure to result.
Anonymous

I don’t need to say it, but this is just terrible. If they would have just donated the amount of money they spent/will spend because of this stupid stunt to homeless shelters, it would have made a much greater impact.

For those wanting to get involved or donate to homeless children, start at your local shelter.

I currently work for a non profit in Houston Texas that provides free art classes and art therapy to children at 11 shelters around the city.

I am sure there are many shelters in your area that would love volunteers or donations. These kids are living in such turmoil. They are born into a life that is full of uncertainty. One adult, showing up one day a week, can make a huge difference in a child’s life. I have seen it happen.

I really hope these guys give some money to ACTUALLY help homeless kids. Not as a punishment necessarily, but to back up their supposedly good intentions.

Thank you for reading this, Boingers. If you can, please consider donating some time or money to a local shelter.

Thank you,
Nick
Boba Fett Diop

Well, they’re not quite as bad as Brokencyde, but I’m sorry- for using the term “hardcore” to refer to themselves in any way, John Joseph should find these little shits and beat them to death with their own severed arms. Never mind this pathetic stunt.
Anonymous

I’m shocked some road raging -real- hard core californian didn’t bleach these guys from the gene pool!
Dave Faris

Die Antwoord, they ain’t.
- EH
  
  Mrs. Potato Dick they ain’t.
Anonymous

WYLD STALLIONS!
Anonymous

I’d suggest they be forced to sit in three hours of unmoving gridlock traffic with nothing on the radio but Epic Saxophone.

Also, the radio can not be turned off.
Antinous / Moderator

Why couldn’t they just hire Angelyne like everybody else does?
- Donald Petersen
  
  I think Angelyne may have finally fallen off the face of the earth. I ran into her about 10 years ago at the Kragen Auto Parts on Laurel Canyon. I believe she was buying brake pads for her pink Corvette. One would think that, for such a mundane errand, she’d have been out and about in mufti rather than decked out in the pink & platinum. But the counterman scored an autographed picture, so he was happy.
  
  That was the last I saw of her.
  - Wingo
    
    Angelyne is alive and well; I see her in my neighborhood all the time, and she is still always decked-out. Drive by the Coffee Bean on Sunset across from the Palladium on any given day and you are likely to spot the pink ‘vette.
    
    Regarding the Borgnine meme in this thread, get this: There is a one-legged homeless (?) man who spends all day with a bottle of windex polishing the stars on Hollywood Blvd. True story.
    
    Also, I am going to jump on the “we’re being punked” bandwagon, now that I think about it. These guys are little too over-the-top douchey/terrible with apparently only one song, which directly references the ‘stunt’ and was released that same day. Said song already also has a hilariously cheesy video that is a little too ‘slick’ (as someone else has mentioned). How does a band that awful (and apparently with no self-awareness) that no one has ever heard of afford video production like that and an obnoxious truck with their likenesses painted on it?
    
    I think this may just be the point where viral marketing has been pushed to its unfortunate, disturbing extreme.
Doran

Assholes. They said they did it to help homeless kids. I hope the judge sentences them each to a couple thousand hours community service working in homeless shelters.
Donald Petersen

Eh. I’ve been delayed in traffic for all kinds of reasons, from Presidential motorcades to attempted suicides to bad weather to livestock to accidents brought on by horrifically incompetent and/or irresponsible driving. I live just close enough to the Rose Bowl that any event involving that stadium puts me miles out of my way and keeps me away from my kids for an aggregate time greater than I even want to calculate.

L.A. traffic is what it is, and you either live with it or you move. (You can certainly expend a lot of effort trying to change it, but really, in a practical sense, you live with it or you move.)

The truly irritating thing is when someone causes such a huge delay on purpose, and for such a stupid, greedy, self-absorbed, obnoxious reason. I understand that that’s why everyone’s more bent outta shape than they normally would be at a stunt like this.

Instigate a flashmob that simultaneously jaywalks from north to south across one block of Wilshire, and you’re a witty guy who has caused a few dozen rolled eyes.

But block the damned 101, and you bring the city to its knees… and you don’t *dare* do that lightly. I’d venture a guess that nobody within sight or earshot of that truck will spend one thin dime on this band or their music. In fact, I’m kinda surprised somebody didn’t loot all their gear and steal the truck. Or set it on fire.

But in the end, it seems that nobody actually overreacted. Yay L.A.
Jason Rizos

I can’t help but thing something more sinister is behind this–like a record label. Perhaps they were coerced into doing this by some oily-hide record exec who has a fool-proof plan to cash in on this, even if it is at the band’s expense.
- GlenBlank
  
  Right. It must be some record label’s fault.
  
  Because musicians are just innocent, noble “creatives”. Only an ‘oily-hide’(?) ‘exec’ with a ‘fool-proof plan to cash in’(!) could be behind it.
  
  Nope, sorry. This is purely amateur-grade stupidity.
  
  I can’t even begin to imagine a ‘record exec’ dumb enough to think this would be a good idea. Even record execs have to commute to work.
  
  Only a bunch of ‘creative artists’ who spend their days getting high in their garage could think this would be a good idea.
  
  “I know, man! We can do it as a charity gig for the homeless! That’ll keep people from being too pissed off about it.”
  
  Amateur stupidity by wannabe ‘artists’ completely out of touch with the everyday reality of working people.
  
  Dollars to donuts, no ‘execs’ involved.
  - Jason Rizos
    
    Ha ha! I love your hostility.
    
    And I’ll take you at face value, that you are not just messing with me. I simply meant that it is so idiotic, that only if one were “assured” to benefit from it, nobody could be stupid enough, even basement-stoner artists .
    
    And you don’t think marketing/advertising execs stay up around the clock and earn massive bonuses that dream up unscrupulous viral marketing campaigns? It’s a logical step from corporate advertisement “flash mobs.”
    
    Remember Paul Reiser in “Aliens?” Burke? This is what corporate people do.
CastanhasDoPara

How about we make them walk down the middle of the same stretch of interstate with huge signs stating what they did while wearing penis costumes, made out of thick foam that would be hot as hell but also provide some protection from the hoards of motorists taking aim and swinging baseball bats.

Or we could just bring back the stocks so that folks can throw rotten food and jeer them for the next month or two.
Mark Frauenfelder

The LA Weekly opened a thread asking readers “What Punishment Should Befall Imperial Stars, The Band That Blocked Traffic On The 101 In Hollywood?” Some of the suggestions are good. Example:

“First, make them pay every dime for any emergency vehicles or police dispatched to the scene. Then, open up a class action civil case that allows any employer or employee to be compensated for lost wages or income. Then charge extra for pain and suffering for anyone else trapped in that hole. And then add on some punitive damages. The courts can even give the money to the very children the band is claiming help.”
- lasttide
  
  They should calculate the economic cost of this stunt and fine the band/label/PR firm for it. Things to take into account:
  
  1. Number of people stuck * time * ave. hourly wage of locals (likely in the millions considering location)
  2. Number of vehicles stuck * time * ave. gas usage at standstill * cost of gas
  3. Any resources wasted by the city/state handling this problem
  4. Emotional damages (road rage is srs bzness)
  5. Punitive damages
BradinPDX

Ernest Bognine? Be kind. The man helped give us The Poseidon Adventure and Borgnine’s Coffee Soda, which I bought a six pack of from Trader Joe’s in 1998. Oh yes it’s real, and shockingly still available.

http://www.claruscanadian.com/getproduct.php?id=15

It tastes exactly how you imagine.
- judysbitch
  
  I also liked him more when he was overheard sharing the secret of his longevity and look of vitality in his 90′s, “I masturbate, a LOT.”
- Anonymous
  
  Not to mention Escape from New York and The Black Hole.
  Those chumps don’t deserve to smell Borgnine’s Depends.
  - Atrum
    
    Don’t forget he’s the voice of Mermaid Man.
    - MrsBug
      
      His finest work by far!!
      
      Actually, with this band, methinks they’ve been watching too much of Avril Lavigne’s Sk8r Boi video. Derivative!!
Anonymous

Their music is a hate crime
neuralien

What a bunch of wannabe poser douchebags. That’s a pretty lame publicity stunt. And in what way is their music “hardcore”? They just look like sad 30-somethings trying to get attention…
boxlightbox

something about their website, only having one song, called “traffic jam,” screams hoax / parody stunt to me.
Ratdog

With all of this plotting, I cannot help but think of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E88HEuwInno

Skip to 0:20 for what I’m talking about.
surrealestate

I’d sentence them to perform at the next Gathering of the Juggalos.
- teapot
  
  I’d sentence them to perform at the next Gathering of the Juggalos…
  …as caged strippers positioned next to the toilets.
  
  For some reason (I like chaos) this doesn’t irk me too bad… at least the song was somehow related to their stupid stunt. What I can’t figure out is why these sad turds didnt just do the same thing but from, say, an overpass over the freeway? The result would have been the same, people on the freeway would have had something to look at while waiting in LA traffic and they wouldn’t have pissed an entire city/country off.
  
  Alternate punishment: Blast them with their own, crap song, on repeat, for 30 days with something like these speakers which the South Koreans have set up facing the North to F with them.
Ratdog

Yup, they definitely got publicity, just like they wanted. I doubt they were expecting such negative publicity.

And they will forever known as those guys who made a commuter’s day a living hell.
Antinous / Moderator

John Joseph should find these little shits and beat them to death with their own severed arms.

Bleeding heart liberal. Slit them open and strangle them with their own entrails. It’s the only way to be sure.

Also, the post neglects to mention that they sent the truck keys off in another vehicle so that nobody could move the truck.
Mark Frauenfelder

I have a feeling the court is going to come down very hard on them, because LA freeway traffic already sucks, and this kind of behavior needs to be strongly discouraged.

Also, since the 101 is an interstate freeway, the Feds might charge these morons, too.
- GlenBlank
  
  Also, since the 101 is an interstate freeway, the Feds might charge these morons, too.
  
  US-101 is a US Highway Route, but not a federal Interstate.
  
  US Routes are just a nationwide system of highway numbering, administered by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, a nationwide association of state highway (and other transportation) officials that serves as a national standards-setting body.
  
  US Routes are built, maintained, and policed by the individual states. The designation of a highway as a US Route doesn’t give the federal government any special jurisdiction over crimes committed on that highway.
Anonymous

I hear there’s an empty mine in Chile they could be sent to…
snapurl

Ernie Borgnine star shining is not a bad thing. Shining Diddy’s would be. What the hell does he do anyway?
Chainring

Do a calculation to determine the amount of time wasted/lost by people stuck in their purposeful traffic jam. Divide that (surely enormous) amount of time among the members of the band and assign them to perform that length of community service.
- Swampdog
  
  Chainring #12 above: ++
  After they pay any costs for police/etc time of course.
  Unfortunately charging them money isn’t likely to get much. Not if they have to rely on selling their music.
Anonimity86

We should sentence them to years in prison, but never take them there. Instead we’d keep the van taking them to prison and drive it through LA traffic eternally.
John Napsterista

(1) This is the future of terrorism. Not necessarily blocking traffic so that some nefarious deadly scheme can be committed (bomb, shooting, whatever), but simply blocking traffic and causing traffic jams or other less-than-deadly actions in the name of raising awareness for some cause (homeless children, Palestinian children, the rights of unborn fundamentalist children, whatever), and threatening further action if the cause is not addressed. I suppose it would be an improvement. Call it nanoterrorism. Or annoyancism.

(2) Note that the band themselves remain unrepentant, bragging on twitter that theyâ€™ll be having dinner in Hollywood tonight, and asking who wants to join them. I say, donâ€™t take the invitation rhetorically and give these pricks a dinner they wonâ€™t soon forget.

(3) Imperial Stars? Have they ever played out? The production values on the video are actually a little too slick …. Consider that perhaps we are being punked here.
- Gyrofrog
  
  Or, cause a big distraction like this on the freeway, tying up the first responders while the real mayhem plays out elsewhere.
Anonymous

Mission accomplished!

Douchiest rock band ever blocks LA freeway in publicity stunt

Read more in Music at Boing Boing

More at Boing Boing