By Daniel de Vise
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, August 6, 2007
In the days since eco-vandals smashed and gashed his Hummer, Gareth Groves has become a reluctant symbol.
Carbon-neutral zealots have called him a narcissist, a polluter, a small man. "If you want to drive a Hummer, go to Iraq," one detractor told the 32-year-old District resident.
Others, including Hummer enthusiasts and people annoyed by what they see as self-righteous environmentalism, have offered sympathy, support, even space in their garage for the crippled H2. A group of Hummer drivers gathered yesterday afternoon outside the Vegas Bar and Grill in Bethesda, a gesture of support that Groves appreciates but could have lived without.
"Messing up the truck -- that's just a little low," said Sam Massa, a teenage Hummer driver from Clifton who learned of Groves's misfortune in a text message from his mother.
"I saw the pictures, and it was ridiculous," Massa said. "And I've been keyed three or four times on my truck."
Groves doesn't fancy himself a Hummer activist. A neighbor talked him into calling The Washington Post about the July 16 incident, in which two masked men broke his windows, slit his tires and carved the message "FOR THE ENVIRON" into the silver-gray body.
D.C. police initially investigated the case, but Groves said officers told him that the FBI had taken it over as a suspected incident of eco-terrorism.
"Everybody seems a lot more angry about what happened than I am," Groves said.
He bought the Hummer this summer to fit the image of a sports marketing business he was trying to launch. His old Nissan Pathfinder didn't suit the stature of a man claiming to represent Washington Redskins players; Groves felt he needed something more splashy.
It was to be his second car. Groves said he knew better than to negotiate a massive sport-utility vehicle in and out of D.C. parking spaces and low-ceilinged garages; for that purpose, he has a Dodge Charger, which gets only a few more miles to the gallon than the Hummer but is less likely to be targeted by eco-terrorists.
When Groves returned home on the day the vandalism story hit the paper, a knot of camera crews forced him to sneak in through the back entrance of his home on Brandywine Street in American University Park. He said that when he emerged, he was stuck speaking to reporters for hours.
He was flooded with letters and e-mail: some from unequivocal supporters, some from bilious detractors, many from people "saying they didn't like Hummers, but they didn't like what happened to me even more."
The July 18 Washington Post article was picked up around the world, attracting 58 pages of reader comments on the Post's Web site.
One said: "Hummers may be the poster child for bad mileage, but those vandals and all of the victim's pious neighbors would be a lot better off protesting at the coal electric generation plant that provides them with their electricity."
Another: "Last time I looked my Ford Expedition was getting 14 miles to the gallon. If that is what he wants who are we to say he can't have that?"
Groves also heard from members of a Hummer drivers network. They wanted to show support through holding a barbecue on his block. Groves had never met any of these people. Who knew what sort of message they might bring to the neighborhood where he was born and raised, he worried.
So the event was moved to a supportive venue in downtown Bethesda.
"They just wanted to clear their name," Groves said, "and let the media know that they're not bad guys and their cars are not bad cars."
Christopher and Kristina Benson said they had driven their H1 six hours from North Carolina. "That's how much this means to us," Christopher Benson said.
Jim Bennett of Manassas pointed to his vehicle and said, "I've pulled two cars out of canyons with my winch."
Massa said he helped organize the rally to remind the public that Hummer owners are not self-centered Earth-haters. They have organized groups, including Hummer Hope, that offer their vehicles after such disasters as Hurricane Katrina. And he said some Hummer drivers are students of alternative fuels.
"I'm actually starting to convert my truck to vegetable oil this week," he said.
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