Biden Supporter, Tired Of Sign Thefts, Offers Cash Reward
October 28, 2020 at 1:23 a.m.
Biden Supporter, Tired Of Sign Thefts, Offers Cash Reward
By David [email protected]
The Warsaw resident spearheaded the purchase of the banners, which were hung by the billboard company on their billboards along U.S. 30 between Warsaw and Pierceton. A fourth banner remained up east of Pierceton as of Tuesday.
“2016 was kind of my call-to-action. Politically, I was very sad that Hillary (Clinton) got beat. I hosted a house party for Courtney Tritch in 2018 when she ran. Started getting involved locally and was very energetic this year for Pete Buttigieg. He was my pick, but very supportive of Biden and Biden/Harris,” she said.
She’s done all the stuff a politically active person does, but she thought Warsaw needed more than a few Biden yard signs and it would be great if there were a few billboards. Not knowing anything about billboards, she did her research and learned she was “late to the game” and couldn’t get full billboards in time before the Nov. 3 election.
Perma Advertising in Pierceton told her they could print banners and hang those on the billboards. Initially, there were five spots available when Gilliland first talked to them, but only four by the time she signed the contract and paid the money out of her own pocket. She later asked other Biden/Harris supporters to pitch in, if they wanted to.
The cost for all four banners, installation and weekly fee to have them up was $2,000. They are 4 feet by 10 feet. The banners were hung last Thursday/Friday.
“Got them all up. So excited. The feedback has been great. I mean, so excited, we’re doing something. Having a presence. We know Warsaw is red; we know our city, county and state is red, but there are many here who support Biden and Harris and we want to hold our heads up and have a proud presence. Why should we hide? Why should we hide? After four years of what we had, why should we hide?” Gilliland said.
She said she’s sad but “really angry that it’s OK in this very red county for people to do this. I would never consider taking or removing or doing that to anybody’s Trump sign ever. I wouldn’t. I may not like it, but I would never touch it.”
After her first reaction to the banners being stolen being sadness and tears, she became angry and started thinking about what she could do about it. She checked with the billboard company to see about getting the banners back up, but decided against that since they just may be stolen again.
The one that remains up is in a more secure area, she said. The billboard company offered to put a trail camera on that one. “So that gives me a little bit of hope on that one,” she said.
After more considering, she decided to call the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office and made an official report on the stolen banners.
Asked about stolen political signs reported, KCSO Chief Deputy Shane Bucher said he made a search for theft reports Tuesday related to signs. He was only able to find five calls this month of people calling dispatch about missing political signs. From the notes, most of the signs were President Trump’s, but he could not give an exact amount of signs taken.
“In our experience, most people do not report their signs taken because of the low dollar value,” he said in an email.
Det./Sgt. Brad Kellar, public information officer for Warsaw Police Department, said he had not been advised of any reports regarding stolen political signs as of Tuesday. He checked with the records office and they believed they had a few reported for information only, but no report was taken.
The difference between the yard signs and Gilliland’s banners is about $1,500. She said people also are always asking her for more Biden yard signs because theirs keep getting stolen.
“I have a number in my mind, I’m not going to say it out loud, but I’m willing to give a cash award out of my personal pocket if we get any information that leads to an arrest because I am serious about this,” she said. “This is wrong. I don’t care who you support and who you don’t support. This is wrong. This is wrong. And I hope that both sides will say this is wrong, not just the Biden team.”
Anyone with information on the theft of the banners can contact the KCSO.
“It’s not about me. It’s about decency. It’s about this is wrong. This is not acceptable. This is wrong. But I don’t feel like very many people in this county will say it’s wrong because they won’t care because they’ll be happy which signs got stolen. And it complicates it, makes it even worse,” Gilliland said.
The Warsaw resident spearheaded the purchase of the banners, which were hung by the billboard company on their billboards along U.S. 30 between Warsaw and Pierceton. A fourth banner remained up east of Pierceton as of Tuesday.
“2016 was kind of my call-to-action. Politically, I was very sad that Hillary (Clinton) got beat. I hosted a house party for Courtney Tritch in 2018 when she ran. Started getting involved locally and was very energetic this year for Pete Buttigieg. He was my pick, but very supportive of Biden and Biden/Harris,” she said.
She’s done all the stuff a politically active person does, but she thought Warsaw needed more than a few Biden yard signs and it would be great if there were a few billboards. Not knowing anything about billboards, she did her research and learned she was “late to the game” and couldn’t get full billboards in time before the Nov. 3 election.
Perma Advertising in Pierceton told her they could print banners and hang those on the billboards. Initially, there were five spots available when Gilliland first talked to them, but only four by the time she signed the contract and paid the money out of her own pocket. She later asked other Biden/Harris supporters to pitch in, if they wanted to.
The cost for all four banners, installation and weekly fee to have them up was $2,000. They are 4 feet by 10 feet. The banners were hung last Thursday/Friday.
“Got them all up. So excited. The feedback has been great. I mean, so excited, we’re doing something. Having a presence. We know Warsaw is red; we know our city, county and state is red, but there are many here who support Biden and Harris and we want to hold our heads up and have a proud presence. Why should we hide? Why should we hide? After four years of what we had, why should we hide?” Gilliland said.
She said she’s sad but “really angry that it’s OK in this very red county for people to do this. I would never consider taking or removing or doing that to anybody’s Trump sign ever. I wouldn’t. I may not like it, but I would never touch it.”
After her first reaction to the banners being stolen being sadness and tears, she became angry and started thinking about what she could do about it. She checked with the billboard company to see about getting the banners back up, but decided against that since they just may be stolen again.
The one that remains up is in a more secure area, she said. The billboard company offered to put a trail camera on that one. “So that gives me a little bit of hope on that one,” she said.
After more considering, she decided to call the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office and made an official report on the stolen banners.
Asked about stolen political signs reported, KCSO Chief Deputy Shane Bucher said he made a search for theft reports Tuesday related to signs. He was only able to find five calls this month of people calling dispatch about missing political signs. From the notes, most of the signs were President Trump’s, but he could not give an exact amount of signs taken.
“In our experience, most people do not report their signs taken because of the low dollar value,” he said in an email.
Det./Sgt. Brad Kellar, public information officer for Warsaw Police Department, said he had not been advised of any reports regarding stolen political signs as of Tuesday. He checked with the records office and they believed they had a few reported for information only, but no report was taken.
The difference between the yard signs and Gilliland’s banners is about $1,500. She said people also are always asking her for more Biden yard signs because theirs keep getting stolen.
“I have a number in my mind, I’m not going to say it out loud, but I’m willing to give a cash award out of my personal pocket if we get any information that leads to an arrest because I am serious about this,” she said. “This is wrong. I don’t care who you support and who you don’t support. This is wrong. This is wrong. And I hope that both sides will say this is wrong, not just the Biden team.”
Anyone with information on the theft of the banners can contact the KCSO.
“It’s not about me. It’s about decency. It’s about this is wrong. This is not acceptable. This is wrong. But I don’t feel like very many people in this county will say it’s wrong because they won’t care because they’ll be happy which signs got stolen. And it complicates it, makes it even worse,” Gilliland said.
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