Friday, October 17, 2008

It happened! Someone stole my sign!!!

We've had our "Yes on 8" sign up on our property for less than a week now, wondering if someone would steal it like they did in 2008 (for Prop. 22). Well, it happened! It was there this morning and I just drove in from volunteering at the school and it's gone!

What's this about tolerance and diversity? Can't someone of the opposing view tolerate me for having a diverse view or different stand than he or she has? Apparently not.

And I'm not the only one this is happening to. Check this out:

Opponents Of Traditional Marriage Engage In Dirty Tricks

SACRAMENTO—October 15—With less than three weeks remaining before election day, the No on 8 campaign is getting desperate as they trail in the polls and in fundraising. As if violently attacking a Yes on 8 volunteer in Modesto on Sunday were not bad enough, No on 8 forces have been intimidating Yes on 8 volunteers and stealing yard signs.

ORANGE COUNTY

* “Caught in the act.” A Prop. 8 opponent from San Francisco was caught in the act when she ripped up a Yes on 8 sign right in front of the Irvine Republican Party campaign office on Sunday. Office workers made a citizen’s arrest. The woman was charged with misdemeanor vandalism and will appear in court.
* On Saturday, several dozen campaign signs—including about a dozen Yes on 8 signs—were along Mouton Parkway near Crown Valley Parkway. On Sunday, the Yes on 8 signs were gone, but the other signs were still standing.
* A Prop. 8 opponent from Mission Viejo called the Yes on 8 campaign threatening to remove any Yes on 8 sign he sees.
* A pregnant woman was “flipped off” because she had a Yes on 8 bumper sticker on her car.
* A Huntington Beach woman had a yard sign stolen on Monday night.
* San Clemente, Laguna Niguel, and San Juan Capistrano volunteers report stolen Yes on 8 signs. Signs posted in the morning were missing by evening.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY

san Fernando/Sylmar/Granada Hills

* About a dozen signs were stolen from front yards.

San Fernando

* A parish leader had a sign on his lawn and someone jumped the fence to his lawn and striped the sign with a knife.

Sylmar

* A volunteer who was distributing signs with her 11 year old son was verbally accosted by a woman in a car approaching the onramp for the 210 Freeway.
* One sign that was left up had the word “Yes” crossed off and replaced with “No.”

Alhambra

* Yes on 8 signs were stripped from their metal frames in broad daylight in a several block area.

Whittier

* A car with a Yes on 8 bumper sticker was egged.

Valencia

* At least six Yes on 8 signs were stolen Saturday night within a few blocks of each other.

Torrance

* A bumper sticker was stolen from a car.

SAN DIEGO COUNTY

Chula Vista

* Yes on 8 bumper stickers have repeatedly been removed from a family’s vehicle.

El Cajon

* Yes on 8 signs have repeatedly been stolen from the same woman’s yard, mostly over the weekend.
* Three yard signs were stolen from a woman’s lawn: two on Saturday night and one on Sunday. Additionally, there were eight Yes signs at the bottom of the hill where she lives which were replaced with fifteen No signs.

Imperial Beach

* A family observed a man come onto their property and remove a Yes on 8 sign from their yard. As he left, he also destroyed a Yes on 8 sign in a neighbor’s yard.

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY

Concord

* Volunteers posted a handful of signs along a long fence surrounding a Prop. 8 supporter’s yard. A neighbor removed the signs, claiming she was exercising her freedom of speech in doing so.

San Ramon

* Danville resident Tom Laurie put up 17 Yes on 8 yard signs in San Ramon. They were all stolen.

SACRAMENTO

* About five Yes on 8 yard signs were stolen from the grounds of the Central Seventh Day Adventist Church. The church is contacting the police.
* KCRA3 posted a report on its website Monday: “Dean Jenkins said a ‘Yes on Proposition 8’ sign was stolen from his front lawn. ‘We came home from Disneyland…and it was gone,’ Jenkins said….‘I think it’s a way of voicing how we feel about certain things. And a sign is taken away from your property…they’re taking away your voice.’”
* A yard sign was stolen in the College Greens area of Sacramento.

San Mateo COUNTY

San Mateo

* About a dozen Yes on 8 signs were stolen from the grounds of St. Matthew parish. Other signs on parish property were destroyed: volunteers returned to find two signs ripped off their frames and the frames bent and a third sign had a gash cut down the middle.

* Yes on 8 volunteers are being “flipped off,” including people leaving the church parking lot after Mass.
* Expletives are being yelled from Prop. 8 opponents in passing cards.
* Members of the clergy from two different parishes have been told that Prop. 8 opponents are watching them to report what they might say about Prop. 8.

San Bruno

* A Yes on 8 bumper sticker was stolen from a car.

SALINAS

* At Sacred Heart Catholic Church, someone stole all the volunteer sign-up postcards, so now the Yes on 8 campaign has no way of contacting those volunteers. Additionally, a Yes on 8 sign was bent and thrown in the trash.

YUBA CITY

* Eight Yes on 8 signs were stolen from neighboring properties.

VALLEJO

* Clusters of Yes on 8 signs have been disappearing.

MERCED

* A yard sign was stolen.

Add me and I'm sure MANY others to that list. -- Renee

For more information go to www.whatisprop8.com

13 comments:

Christa Jeanne said...

Nice list, Renee! Back in the Prop. 22 days, a bunch of signs were stolen and then set on fire in the LDS Church parking lot. I had a feeling this would happen again.

Isn't the whole argument on the No side to live and let live? Equality for all? Does that not include equal rights to speak up on an issue?

Chino Blanco said...

What did you expect?

A "Thank You" note?

Get real.

Renee said...

Chino Blanco -- I'm not sure what you mean by your sarcasm.

No one expects a "thank you" note when they put up a political sign. They just expect the right to view their opinion -- to help the campaign. That's the reality.

Pomoprophet said...

I don't like it when people on both sides do that stuff.

Karene said...

I'm in El Segundo, CA and that's been happening to us here as well. We've all been pulling our yard signs in at night so that we don't have to keep replacing them. Tolerance isn't a two-way street, apparently...

t said...

i find it really interesting that their side is calling this measure "prop hate" but they are the ones doing these things. They say we are discriminating against them, and yet they are discriminating against our view point and the ability to express it.

Matt said...

It's amazing the amount of hatred that is out there against those that are voting YES for Proposition 8. Just because a person thinks that the others ideas are wrong, does not mean that you should vandalize the property.

I guess this just shows, more and more, what people are made of.

Lisa Webb said...

you and everyone I know! Even worse is when they vandalize the cars that go with bumper stickers or while we are waving signs eggs and cokes are thrown. Well dispite it all I really feel like the majority of people are pro prop 8 and the more this stuff happens and talked about the more the majority will be in the favor of Prop 8.
YES ON 8!!!

Renee said...

Yeah, it's been interesting to watch unfold. I hope it doesn't get violent here like it did in Modesto.

I have several friends who won't put up "Yes" signs because they are afraid of the retaliation. I hesitated at first too because we live on a main road in our community and my children play in our yard.

But I thought it was important to let others know my postion on this issue. I'm respected in my community by people of various beliefs and wanted them to know that I support the "yes" vote. I thought if this could give them a reason to research the "yes" position more, it was worth the risk to me.

Renee said...

Whoops -- typo there -- that was supposed to be position, not postion :)

Devil Dog Sweetheart said...

I think it's awesome that the more we stand up to the opposition, the more they get freaked out and try to take us down. The stronger we push, the more attention we'll get, the more people will notice and educate themselves on what the fuss is all about, which is what we want. I say....Bring it on! :)

Renee said...

Now I'm getting angry! I just went to take the garbage to the street and saw that our sign was stolen again this morning. Yes, we have a back-up and we'll put it up again without hesitation. But these people are trying to bully us and shut us up! How dare they break laws (trespassing/stealing)and defy the right to free speech in an election! I know many "yes" voters who are afraid or intimidated to put out a sign or to stick a bumper sticker on their car. Not me!!!

P.S. (I feel like I need to change my smiling photo to an angry one :))

Christa Jeanne said...

Lame!!! I saw a slashed sign when I went running this morning. It's so frustrating that we're being silenced. The Yes crowd has the class to allow everyone their right to a voice. Silencing your opposition through theft, vandalism and intimidation is so un-American!