Trump supporter’s house shot at, sign vandalized

Undeterred, homeowner plans to replace sign.

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A home in Oak Bluffs owned by a man who supports the Trump-Pence ticket recently had a window broken by a BB and a political sign vandalized by undetermined means.

David Morris, who lives in the house he said he was born in, on New York Avenue, affixed a Trump-Pence high up on that house two weeks ago. On Monday he discovered a large hole in the sign. Morris said he was out in front of his house on Monday, chatting with a police officer who was on a road detail, when the officer pointed to the vandalism. His goddaughter discovered the BB damage the next morning.

“She opened the shade all the way up to open the window, and she noticed. She came downstairs and said, ‘Hey look, you’ve got a bullet hole in your window.’ I go, ‘What?’ She goes, ‘You’ve got a bullet hole in your window’.”

Morris later found it was a BB, not a bullet. He found the BB on the sill. 

Morris said he didn’t request the police take a look when he found the sign was damaged, but after the house was shot at, he did go to Oak Bluffs Police.

Morris said they came and examined the premises. He said even before the two incidents, the atmosphere seemed unfriendly. 

“The night I put it up, 12:30 am that night, there was a very, very loud bang in front of my house — matter of fact, the only way I could describe it, it sounded like a gunshot. But the police said it could have been an M-80 [firework] … I don’t know. I came outside at 12:30 and walked around my house, and I didn’t find any damage or anything.”

Morris said he won’t be cowed. “I’m not taking the sign down,” he said. “I’m just going to replace it.”

He went on to say some of his politically like-minded friends are afraid to display their support for Trump-Pence. “None of my friends will put a bumper sticker on their cars,” he said. “They’ve had them ripped off before. They’ve been keyed before. I bought like 10 hats, and I was giving them away. They won’t take them. They won’t wear them.”

He said this extends to putting up yard signs too. “I mean, people have come by and said, You’re crazy to put that up,” he said. 

Asked what he would say to the person who fired the BB, Morris said, “‘If you don’t like Trump, don’t vote for him.’ As far as I know, it’s not personal. Apparently they have a problem with Trump. Why take it out on me? Don’t vote for the guy. But shoot my window and rip my sign because, I don’t know, you don’t like him? I have a free right to vote for who I want. Put up any sign I want. So you shouldn’t come by and vandalize my house.”

Oak Bluffs Police couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.