Trump signs disappearing from people’s yards
Published 11:05 am Thursday, September 29, 2016
Mower County GOP volunteers are asking Austin residents to show more respect for their First Amendment rights.
GOP volunteers Ron Grosland and Dave Huinker said at least seven yard signs for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump have been taken from Austin yards and discarded.
“We’d like to ask people to be a little more respectful of the parties, regardless if they agree or not,” Grosland said.
Grosland and Huinker say people are specifically targeting Trump signs. Huinker has signs for all the major Republican candidates, but only his Trump signs have been taken — twice.
Both men have posted political signs in their lawns, both in Austin and when living in other communities, for many years and have never had a sign taken, but they’ve heard of Trump sights being taken in other communities too.
The Mower County GOP is the main supplier of political signs and has divvied out more than 50 Trump signs. However, the GOP volunteers say with just over a month before the Nov. 8 election, the Trump election signs are now in high demand and not easy to replace.
The two men said they’re disappointed with the thefts. They planned to contact Mower County Republicans on Wednesday asking if any others have had their Trump signs stolen; however, they also planned to urge their party members to be respectful of all political signs and not retaliate.
The men say they respect the First Amendment rights of people of all opinion and want people to respect theirs too.
Trump, a New York businessman, has proven to be an outspoken, controversial and divisive figure during his transition from political outsider to the Republican nominee for president.