Pranksters' Advice To City Council For 'Gnarly Times': Put Up 12-Foot-Tall Paul Walker Statue

SAN CLEMENTE (CBSLA.com) — An aspiring comedic duo are apparently crashing Southland city council meetings with one goal in mind: to get city officials to honor late "Fast And Furious" actor Paul Walker.

Going by their social media names of Chad Kroeger and Bodhi Johnson, the two self-described "freelance journalists" were most recently granted speaking time at this week's San Clemente City Council, where they tried to convince officials to install a 12-foot tall Paul Walker statue on the pier.

Their impassioned pleas have since gone viral in a roughly six-minute video in which Chad and Bodhi employ a number of persuasion techniques - from making (extremely) flimsy connections between Walker and San Clemente to citing inspirational lines from Walker's films and even calling for the proposed statue to act as a post-Trump era "unifying figure".

In a statement that opened with the greeting "What up Council", Kroeger, wearing a pompom-style beanie hat emblazoned with the word "bacon" on it and a snap-on necktie over a camouflage T-shirt, spoke about living in "gnarly times" and seeing an "ever-growing divide between Americans and families torn apart by political differences."

Invoking phrases such as "a beacon of headlights" and pronouncing the word "melancholy" with a soft "ch" - as in "choose" - Kroeger called upon council members to properly honor Walker, who was killed in a car crash in Nov. 2013.

"Detroit has the Robocop. Philly has Rocky. We need Paul Walker. That is why I'm proposing that the city erect a 12-foot tall steel statue of Paul Walker on the pier," Kroeger urged council members.

Upon asking the council, "How can we get started? When can we break ground?", Kroeger is asked whether Walker has any ties to the city of San Clemente.

"He went to high school here," said Kroeger, who was then told it was actually Walker's cousin and not Walker himself.

The proposal was met with a tepid response from the council.

"I'm a big fan of Paul Walker, don't get me wrong," said Mayor Pro Tem Tim Brown said. "But....no. Sorry, bro."

Councilmember Lori Donchak didn't let Kroeger leave without thanking him for his plea.

"Your point is we need an inspiring figure and that's a very powerful message, thank you for that," she said.

His partner Bodhi spoke next, noting that "2017 has been a bummer year so far", and echoing - or actually repeating verbatim - Chad's appeal for a unifying figure.

Bodhi added he was "pretty sure Paul's cousin went to San Clemente High School, for at least for a couple semesters" and called on the city to "do the right thing".

He then held up a "visual aid" for his vision of a Paul Walker statue: a shirt printed with an image of a shirtless Walker, which one City Council member said resembled San Clemente mayor Chris Hamm.

"Who's Chris Hamm? This is P-Dubs, my boy Walker," Bodhi responded. "Anyway, thank you, adjourned."

The pair reportedly made a similar plea during a Burbank City Council meeting earlier this month, but it was unclear whether the city had seriously considered their proposal.

A YouTube account under the name "Chad Goes Deep" features videos of the duo performing various comedic "man on the street"-type bits.