A brazen Massachusetts resident has sparked chaos and intense debate after projecting a pro-Trump message on their small town’s water tower.
Hanson Town Administrator Lisa Green has furiously rolled out efforts to stop ‘Trump 2024’ from being plastered across the town’s property by the unnamed culprit.
‘This misleads the public into believing that this activity is sanctioned or condoned by the Town,’ she wrote in a statement.
The GOP-leaning political message was first noticed on Friday night. Green said the resident will be fined $100 each day until they stop.
A Cease and Desist order is in the works – and Highway Department employees have aimed a spotlight at the area to try and block the projection.
‘This individual’s actions have the potential to cost a significant amount of taxpayer dollars, including attorney fees, overtime to pay Highway Department workers to turn the spotlight on and off each day, and the potential for having to rent or purchase stronger lighting equipment,’ Green wrote.
She pointed to the town’s bylaws as another argument against the noncompliant resident.
The town’s sign regulation law states: ‘Political signs are allowed in all zoning districts on private property with the property owner’s authorization; there is no placement of political signage on municipal property.’
Green emphasized that Hanson, which is home to under 11,000 people, ‘respects the free speech of all residents,’ but people cannot make it look like the town is endorsing any political candidate.
Since the town started shining the light over the water tower, the slogan has not been spotted. But residents told NBC10 they wonder if the person will project their message again once the town stops.
The situation has caused an uproar from Hanson citizens. Some said they believe the town is wasting its time, money and resources trying to stop the resident.
‘You shouldn’t tie up police and other resources for something like that, but at the same point, it is America, you can say whatever you want,’ Hanson resident Paul Riley told NBC10.
‘They should just let him put his sign up not spend the money on the generator feeding fuel to the generator,’ resident Kevin Welch said to the outlet.
On social media, people showed support for both sides of the argument.
One Facebook user simply wrote the person responsible ‘should be fined’ for violating the town’s laws.
But another person argued ‘it’s technically not on the tower so they shouldn’t be able to fine it.’
‘So much for freedom of speech,’ someone said.
Others viewed the situation through a political lens, saying ‘if it were a Biden thing they would let it stay.’
A Republican presidential candidate has not won in Massachusetts, which tends to be a liberal state, since Ronald Reagan in 1984.
‘I hope this guy gets a GoFundMe to cover the fines and keeps it up,’ said a Facebook user who is in favor of the pro-Trump sentiment.
For the first time, a DailyMail.com/J.L. Partners election model indicated a slight ‘lean’ in favor of Donald Trump over Democratic candidate Kamala Harris on Monday.
Trump was also in the lead in several swing states. He would claim the overall win in 62.4 percent of the model’s simulations, compared to last week’s 59.8 percent.
Harris has almost a 40 percent chance of victory, meaning the election could still be one of the closest in history.