Minutemen Turn Anger From Illegals to Vandals
The Outraged Patriots typically direct their anger at illegal immigrants and the political forces that refuse to deport them by the millions. This week, though, they’re directing their outrage at a group of Topeka vandals.
Last Thursday, the anti-illegal-immigration group based in Nebraska erected a 55-foot billboard just east of the Fairlawn exit on Interstate 470 in Topeka. Previously displayed in Little Rock, Arkansas, the sign included a cartoon image of a Revolutionary War minuteman next to a pole flying a Mexican flag and an upside-down American flag. The group listed its Web site and phone number beneath the question “Had Enough?”
Less than 24 hours after it had been mounted, though, the billboard was vandalized by some high-flying graffiti artists.
“The perpetrator(s) used some sort of tall ladder to reach the mounted ladder and then used a paint roller to paint over the www.OutragedPatriots.com lettering on the billboard,” group founder Dan Howard wrote in a Web posting. “They painted over the stars on the American Flag, spray painted a swastika on this portion of Old Glory, wrote 'Fight Fascism!' and the message 'Age Riots' was also left behind.”
Hayes tells the Pitch that he’s not all that surprised that the first sign in Topeka was targeted. In fact, while the billboard company removed the placard right away, Hayes says he would have left it up — swastika and all — to “show people what we’re working with here.”
“I’d question if this isn’t a hate crime,” Hayes said. “If one of the other [immigrants’ rights] organizations had it done against them they’d say it’s a hate crime. If that’s the case, shouldn’t this be a hate crime against a bunch of American patriots?”
Hayes says he’s checking back with the Topeka police today press the case, but the Minutemen are also known for taking surveillance into their own hands.
Hispanic housepainters, beware. – Carolyn Szczepanski
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