"It's not a hate crime, no people of color were involved."
Posted on 10/09/2004 8:10:00 AM PDT by Deadeye Division
Men videotaped vandalizing sign
Summit elections official catches culprits tearing down Bush-Cheney poster
By Marilyn Miller and Andale Gross
Beacon Journal staff writers
Two men who tore down a Bush-Cheney sign and urinated on it were caught on videotape by Summit County Republican officials early Friday morning.
The videotape shows the men sneaking into the yard of a West Market Street home and bending the sign to the ground. The men struggled to rip the sign out of the ground by shaking it and pulling it but couldn't get it off the posts, so they knocked it down. Sounds heard on the tape suggest the men urinated on the sign. They were white males, about 30 to 35 years old, well-dressed and well-groomed. They parked across the street in what police think was a foreign car, a Toyota or Honda.
The homeowner, Steve Kotsatos, who is also assistant to the director of the Summit County Board of Elections, called Akron police dispatchers at 10:38 a.m. Friday and told them about how his campaign sign was vandalized.
He said he caught the vandals on a night-vision camera he had installed the day before.
``A couple of days ago my neighbor's sign was set on fire with a blowtorch so I figured I might be next,'' Kotsatos said. ``This is not only criminal damaging but a safety hazard.''
The large 4-by-8-foot, red, white and blue sign was tipped over in Kotsatos' yard about 1 a.m. Friday.
John Kerry's name was scrawled across Bush's name in black marker on one side of the sign -- the work of previous vandals, Kotsatos said.
He discovered the bent sign at 6:45 a.m.
Police took a report of the incident and retrieved a copy of the videotape to review. No arrests have been made.
Akron police Lt. Sylvia Trundle said depending on the amount of damage -- officials estimate the sign's value at $200 to $400 -- the culprits could be charged with vandalism, but if the value is $500 or more they could face criminal damaging or criminal mischief charges. They are all misdemeanors and would carry a maximum sentence of six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.
Local Republicans and Democrats say the stealing and damaging of campaign signs has been worse this presidential race than in past races. In some cases, the signs have been shredded and burned.
According to the Summit County Republican Party, about 3,000 of the 4,000 signs the GOP has handed out supporting Bush and Cheney have been taken from yards or damaged.
More than 1,000 signs backing Sen. Kerry, D-Mass., and running mate Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., have been taken from yards, according to the Summit County Democratic Party.
Both parties deny taking part in any sign stealing.
Even political leaders like Summit GOP Party Chairman Alex Arshinkoff and Summit Democratic Party Finance Chairman Wayne Jones have seen their signs targeted.
Officials in Medina, Wayne and Portage counties also have reported thefts of campaign signs.
Area police departments say they investigate sign theft complaints when they get them. They say it's best when a description of the vandals or their vehicle can be given.
Kotsatos said he had a Bush sign in his yard four years ago and nobody bothered it. The Republican Party is looking into a possible $1,000 reward for any information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the men.
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or 800-777-7232 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com. Andale Gross can be reached at 330-996-3743 or agross@thebeaconjournal.com.
Typical democrat party / Kerrry supporters.
post the video ..... so call can see who it is...... and we can pass round for the world to see the faces ...... the families can be so proud of them..... and the DNC community..... we need pics ..... of everthing.... smile..... so we can all see their short commings...... to coin a phrase....
pics pics pics...... post em.... everywhere....
Nice. Police should be able to get some positive I.D. from the video.
"the two men"
Men? more like nazi morons
Those 4 x 8 signs are expensive too!
Find em, make em pay.
Has anybody noticed how today's democrats are like the national socialists before they got power?
I hope they do DNA testing of the urine to convict them later. Also, from watching the video, they are either gay or very metro. (Just my gut reaction)
Almost exactly like the National Socialists! Heck, all they need is an "evil" race to demonize and blame for all the nation's problems...
Oh wait, they have straight white males for that!
One of our Bush signs was stolen, and since then we bring them in at night.
How do you get the video to play?
Bolsheviks
bump
"Has anybody noticed how today's democrats ar?e like the national socialists before they got power?"
They sure are. Watch out for Kristallnact 2004 the night of November 3.
I can't get it to play. What do I use to play a .mov file
Hmmm...
Motion detector, 12 guage blanks fired from a pump shotgun...
just a thought...
more satisfying results than video & a meaningless phone call!
HOWEVER, when I clicked just now on the Akron Beacon Journal source link, it took me instead to a page saying I had to register first with their site... sorry, and good luck. It is worth watching.
"It's not a hate crime, no people of color were involved."
Quicktime - look for the link that says "play video", and if you have Apple Quicktime installed, it should play.
I would not just be waiting with a night vision camera.
http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/9876845.htm
On the far right side of the article is a video screen with a still photo of the sign. Underneath this, I clicked on the link called "Watch the video of the sign being torn down"
They would drive by scratching their heads, didn't we just tear that sign down?
Democrats are wankers
Just the unique sound of a shotgun shell being chambered hooked up to a motion sensor is enough. Years ago I thought this would make a wonderful burglar alarm that could be left on all the time but then I considered how the typical cop would react to it. Too dangerous.
My son got it to play for me. Too bad this owner didn't sic his dog on them
My son got it to play, no Apple here.
They probably met over at the "Beer Hall" and discussed the 'putsch' before wrecking the sign.
I keep my signs up close to the house with lights on them all night. When I used to put them out by the sidewalk, they got stolen and knocked down.
Way to handle it ... take ball bat to perps car ... let them call the police.
Too bad the owner didn't come running out there with a flash camera also.
"Two men who tore down a Bush-Cheney sign and urinated on it were caught on videotape "
This is why the DNC thugs are so angry, they have severe mental issues WITH NO OTHER OUTLET thus act out like the first stages of potential serial killers do by defecating or urinating on things. Wow their mind set is worse than immature. Note: Retarded people have better decorum than these lunatics.
ping
As therapuetic as that would be, and it would be very satisfying, it would be sinking to the Dimwit's level.
Which is annoying since we cannot act the same, their behavior would be ignored.
"I would not just be waiting with a night vision camera"
I would get one of those paint guns with dye paint...heh heh heh ... the perps would be walking around for days with unwashable paint on them. Expose the sneaky cowards.
I haven't heard of any signs being stolen in my town, here in Democrat laced Manchester, Connecticut. Although I have seen many times people slowing down there cars only to start flailing there arms up in the air in anger. It's precious moment's like that, that brighten my day. Extra signs are on hand in case it gets messed with. I really hope they catch those pathetic morons and make an example out of them.
You can play the video with the Quicktime player.
Great minds .... me too. I thought about it when my husband said that a criminal, hearing that sound, would hurt himself going through a window, a door, a wall, anything, trying to get away.
If you enter the URL ... http://www.krd1.com/quicktime/bush_sign.mov ....in Quicktime player it will load it right up
And killing terrorists would sink to their level .... that's appeasement Sir. The Brownshirts in Germany would have never gone so far if people had stood up to them to begin with. You need to think about that.
Taking a baseball bat to a punk's car is not equal to killing terrorists.
Please think about this.
The punks are acting like children.
Why cease being an adult and break the law merely to 'get them' when one can obey the law and get them?
No Sir ... taking out a headlight or a tail light WILL send a strong message Sir. These punks vandalized someones property and if something is not done about it up front they will become more and more embolded ... as you see them doing more and more each day . Or have'nt you seen the reports about Rep headquarters being vandalized. YOU think about it.
And then get arrested for vandalism while they get away scott free.
That is not a good mission attrition rate.
What IS a good attrition rate is getting their faces on tape, getting their license plates, and then making posters with their names and addresses available to everyone letting the neighborhood know.. like the Dear John posters of people frequenting prostitutes.
And all within the law.
What an idiot! This guy needs to go to prison.
That my friend is EXACTLY how you handle a bully ... like these punks. Kissing their ASS only makes one a coward and tells the punks that they can do anything they want without consequences. Kissing punks asses is how our society got so wussiefied in the first place
The cops would not do a thing ... anymore than they would do anything to the punkfor vandalizing your property. They were not there to see it and very very likely would look the other way.
I think I would sneak up and lock their car door so they could not leave. Then I would confront them and offer them an option: Each of them gives me $100 right there on the spot of I call the police. Of course, explaining that I had caught their every action on a night vision camera.
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