Sticker Banned For Containing Gang Signs

I think this may be a wee bit of an overreaction. Chicago held a competition among the city's youth to design a sticker that would appear in the windshields of all city vehicles. 15-year-old Herbert Pulgar won that competition, but then had the honor yanked from him when a blogger pointed out possible gang-related imagery. Or, y'know, it could just be a heartfelt tribute to emergency responders from a kid.

The Rejected Design

Some within the Chicago City Clerk's office believe the hands are depicting a gang sign thrown by the Maniac Latin Disciples. City officials also believe the use of a heart as a central motif in the drawing, and the placement of the hands atop the heart like horns, also pointed toward images associated with the MLD.

The Insidious Gang Banger Holding His Subliminal Ode To Street Violence

Chicago Sun Times, Rich Hein / AP

"I came up with the idea of the heart because I feel that it's to show love to our Chicago heroes. And the hands are the helping hands of Chicago," said Pulgar's mother of the two symbols that drew the strongest gang allegations. "And in no way, (shape or) form does anything in that picture have anything to do with gang affiliation, gang symbols."