Perrysburg Police Arrest Four with Stolen Romney Signs

Release:

Columbus, Ohio - The Ohio Liberty Coalition today released a police report from the arrest at 1:00 AM Friday morning by the Perrysburg Police Department of four males, driving in a Ford F-150 Pickup that was filled with stolen Romney campaign signs. The truck’s owner is the Sheet Metal Workers International, Union Local 33 in Parma, OH. Many of the stolen signs were believed to have been put up by members of the Northwest Ohio Conservative Coalition according to John McAvoy the President of the Group.

McAvoy described the situation as it was reported to him "This morning 4 men driving a pickup truck registered to the Sheet Metal Union, Local 33 were arrested and charged with receiving stolen property - in the form of a bed full of Romney/Ryan yard signs, some measuring as large as 4'x8'. Also in the truck were tools such as drills, which were possibly used to take the large signs down. The signs were allegedly removed from several private property and business locations across Lucas and Wood County."

He continued by adding "We find it unfortunate that the Sheet Metal Union is involved in such low behavior and actively suppressing freedom of speech during such an important election. We hope the news media will investigate. Wide reports of Romney signs being stolen have been an issue for many weeks, but this is the first we've heard of anyone being caught."

Tom Zawistowski, President of the Ohio Liberty Coalition, added "This has been a serious issue all election season all over Ohio. What we have seen is not random theft of a few signs here and there, but instead a literal clensing of entire areas of signs. That has to be planned and executed by someone who has no respect for the law or for free speech." Zawistowski concluded by saying "In Portage County, we had gotten advance notice that lots of signs were going to be taken last night and sure enough entire streets of signs were missing this morning. Most of which were on private property and many that were not near the road. It will be interesting to learn from the investigation if those caught in Perrysburg were being paid by the Union while they were taking the signs. Our member groups will not hesitate to prosecute individuals who are caught taking signs and we encourage anyone that has a sign stolen to file a police report."

The Ohio Liberty Coalition is a coalition of Ohio Liberty Groups whose purpose is to unite conservative grassroots organizations for greater effectiveness in the state and nation, and to provide resources for member organizations to strengthen their groups. The OLC currently has over 75 liberty-minded groups across Ohio who are members of its coalition.