El Paso News has learned that a campaign banner belonging to judicial candidate Marlene Gonzalez, who is running for reelection in the March Primaries, was removed illegally from a rock wall on the candidate’s property. The theft of the banner was caught on video.
El Paso News spoke to Gonzalez earlier today who confirmed that her banner was illegally removed. Gonzalez told us that this is an ongoing problem with political signage being taken illegally and sometimes replaced by the signs of their opponents. El Paso News spoke to other candidates running for office who reported to us similar problems with their political banners and signs being removed.
In Texas, the removal of a political sign without authority can lead to criminal penalties. Once the sign has been placed on someone’s property, its removal by another individual without the authority of the property owner or the candidate can lead to criminal mischief and even theft charges depending on the value of the political sign. For a sign worth less than $100, the individual taking the sign illegally can face a Class C misdemeanor with a penalty of up to $500. A sign worth more can lead to a Class A or B misdemeanor, which are punishable by up to 180 days in jail and up to a $2,000 fine.
Signs may not be placed on public right of ways, however only the Texas Department of Transportation has the authority to remove the sign.
Destroying or vandalizing signs can also lead to criminal penalties.
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Earlier this month, several candidates in Fort Bend reported their signs had been stolen. The Fort Bend District Attorney is looking to prosecute the thefts.
In June 2022, Trump-endorsed Republican state representative Frederick Frazier was indicted on charges of impersonating a public servant to illegally remove the signs of his opponent. Late last year, Frazier pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges for trying to impersonate a public servant and pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal mischief. Frazier was also fired from the Dallas Police Department where he was a police officer when he targeted his opponent’s signs. Frazier, who is running for a second term, is on probation and paid fine after his pleas.
In 2020, Gonzalez had her political sign stolen by her opponent, Laura Strathmann. In that case, a video also caught Laura Strathmann taking the sign.
When Strathmann became aware that a video of her stealing the campaign sign was published by us, she tried to get an individual to lie that he had requested the sign be removed from his property. A second video was then published showing the neighbor did not ask Laura Strathmann to remove the political sign.
Police Report Filed
Gonzalez confirmed to us that she filed a police report about the incident. Gonzalez reiterated to us that it is a crime to remove political banners and signs without authorization, adding that “now a days it easy to place small cameras” to catch individuals taking or destroying political signs illegally.
The use of cameras to protect expensive political banners is now becoming common. Another tactic being deployed to protect political banners are the Apple Airtags, which are small devices that can be hidden and used to track the items they are attached to, as Justin Fischer did in a Detroit mayoral race recently.
El Paso News will continue to monitor this story and update it if new information become available.
Disclosure
Each election cycle, El Paso News publishes the names of the political candidates that the technology company owned by Martín Paredes provides branding and technology services to. Although not required to, we provide this list to our readers for transparency purposes. Clients of Cognent have no influence over the stories we choose to cover. Click here for more details.
It would appear that someone was taking the video in front of this individual’s home. They should then be able to provide the address to law enforcement and file a proper complaint.