Dem Campaign Signs Placed on Private Property Without Permission, Booby-Trapped with Razor Blades

By Ryan Ledendecker October 18, 2022 at 11:26am

In Pennsylvania, the stakes for the upcoming November midterms have never been higher, as the state is one of the closely-watched battlegrounds that will determine the makeup of the U.S. Senate when the dust settles after Election Day.

Unfortunately, those high stakes also bring stupid and dangerous decisions, which was evidenced in the southeastern part of the state recently after residents reported rogue Democratic campaign signs placed in their yards that were lined with razor blades, WTXF-TV reported.

The Upper Makefield Township Police Department posted an alarming update to their social media pages regarding the discovery, complete with images that appear to show razor blade-rigged campaign signs for several top Democratic candidates, including Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

Not only were the signs booby-trapped, but they were also placed in various yards without permission, meaning the culprit(s) knew the signs would likely be removed and the person removing them subject to potential injury from the attached blades.

Unfortunately, the police noted that the resident who removed the sign from their yard was reportedly injured by the attached razor blades.

“The below campaign signs were placed without permission on a subject’s property. When the resident went to remove the Shapiro sign from their property they were cut by the razor blades placed around the perimeter of the sign. Obviously, this was designed to inflict punishment on anyone who attempted to remove the sign,” the police department wrote.

The Upper Makefield Township police described the gruesome discovery as a “first.”

“Over the past election cycles, we have dealt with theft of signs, vandalism of signs, neighbor disputes, etc., but this is the first time we have dealt with this situation,” the department wrote.

Should the person who did this go to jail?

Police begged citizens of the community to stop the dangerous act.

“No matter your political affiliation, no matter your candidate preference, resorting to this type of depravity is unacceptable and criminal. We can do better and must,” the department added.

According to FindLaw, stealing or vandalizing political signs is illegal, though states dictate how such offenses are classified. Most of the time, it’s a misdemeanor offense. However, attaching razor blades to a sign, which points toward intent, will presumably mean a more serious charge, especially since it can result in injury.

However, while rare, this isn’t the first time a bad actor has booby-trapped political yard signs with razor blades.

According to a 2020 report from WAVY-TV, a worker who was tasked with removing signs that were too close to a road in southeastern Michigan had his fingers sliced after removing a “Trump 2020” sign that reportedly had blades taped along the bottom edge of the sign.

The injured man, a 52-year-old Commerce Township building inspector, required stitches at a local hospital as a result.

The Oakland County sheriff’s office indicated in a press release that the homeowner had attached the blades to prevent the signs from being stolen, which was a somewhat common occurrence in the lead-up to the 2020 election.

Hopefully, the incident in Pennsylvania was isolated, because having one’s hand sliced open by razor blades attached to an illegally-placed political yard sign is the last thing any homeowner should be worried about.

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