Skateboarder Shawn Powers has started a firestorm with a video showing him breaking open a lobster tank and throwing the lobsters against a brick wall. Powers comes across as a senseless thug (who by the way cannot tell the difference between a lobster and a crab) as he smashes the tank on videotape, declaring “I’ll break it, and I’ll take the f–kin’ crabs out.”

Powers takes four strikes at the tank to break it open. The business is A-Wah II in New York City’s Chinatown, which now appears closed.

What is amazing is that some have defended Powers and said that the lobsters were meant to be eaten anyway. Even if you disregard the cruelty of throwing lobsters against a war, there is also that little matter of committing a senseless crime.

Powers is a 22-year-old professional skateboarder from Queens who is sponsored by London-based Palace Skateboards. I presume that Palace Skateboards will drop Powers unless these reports have wrongly identified him. I would also expect Powers to be charged with property destruction and cruelty to animals. While the value of the lobsters may be low for the property offense, the tank and clean up is not.

What do you think that appropriate punishment should be? Misdemeanor or felony? Should it include jail time?