The man who vandalized then-presidential candidate Donald Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame has pleaded no contest to the crime, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
James Lambert Otis, 53, of West Hollywood, pleaded to one felony count of vandalism for using a pick axe and a sledgehammer in October to smash Trump’s star, prosecutors said Tuesday.
He was ordered to pay $3,700 to the Hollywood Historic Trust and $700 to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce for the damage, as well as sentenced to three years of probation and told to work 20 days for Caltrans.
In the midst of the presidential campaign, Trump’s Hollywood star became a flashpoint, prompting scuffles and near-daily protests up until the Nov. 8 election.
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On the morning of Oct. 26, Otis took a pick axe to the star. Video of the incident was recorded by a member of the media as Otis removed Trump’s gold-colored name and the television logo from the sidewalk in the 6800 block of Hollywood Boulevard.
Otis immediately made headlines after the footage went viral.
Later that day, Otis told the Southern California News Group he vandalized the star because he was “saddened and fed up by Mr. Trump,” during the presidential campaign.
“The reason why I took the star was to auction it on Election Day, and raise as much money as I can for the women who have been exploited by Mr. Trump,” Otis said at the crime.
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Otis, who flips houses for a living, announced the next week that he would sue Trump and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to have the star removed because it had become a distraction.
In a subsequent interview, he lamented that the star was “costing the city money,” referring to efforts to remove profanity, swastikas and stickers that people continued to put on the newly-repaired tourist attraction.
Otis said at the time he hoped his punishment would be “fair.”
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