Vandals Tag Vehicles With Anti-Trump Graffiti

Jefferson County, AL – Multiple residents of Mountain Brook and Vestavia Hills were greeted by spray-painted anti-President Donald Trump graffiti on vehicles parked in their driveways on Monday morning.

Ashley Deaton McMakin told AL.com that her husband discovered the vandalism on their GMC Yukon when he went to take out the trash at their Mountain Brook home.

McMakin said the words “Biden 46” had been painted on the side of the SUV.

“It was a shocking start to the morning, needless to say,” she said.

What’s even more disturbing is that McMakin said she didn’t have any Trump 2020 signs in her yard and that she doesn’t make political posts on social media, leaving one to wonder why she was targeted, AL.com reported.

She said she’s sad it happened.

“It’s not the physical damage, it’s just disturbing the state our country is in,” McMakin told AL.com.

Mountain Brook Police Chief Ted Cook said the town had only had one graffiti incident reported on Nov. 2 but that the police had received many calls about stolen yard signs from supporters of both candidates.

More vehicles were targeted in Vestavia Hills, AL.com reported.

Multiple vehicles were spray-painted with the slogans “Go Joe,” “Bye Trump,” and “No More Trump.”

One victim of the vandals posted to Facebook that he didn’t know why he had been targeted, AL.com reported.

“Was anybody else targeted by vandals last night?” Joshua Putnam asked. “PS – I did not have any political signage in my yard – just a flag and a wreath that were red, white and blue.”

Vestavia Hills Police Captain Shane Ware said that officers had taken four reports about anti-Trump vandalism, mostly in the Cahaba Heights neighborhood, by 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 2, AL.com reported.

Capt. Ware said Vestavia Hills police had also received multiple calls about stolen campaign signs.

He said police were actively investigating the incidents and would file criminal mischief charges if the culprits were identified, AL.com reported.

Whether those charges will be misdemeanors or felonies depends on the cost of the damage that was done.

“We take property crimes seriously,” Capt. Ware said. “We will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.”

Federal authorities are investigating a September, middle-of-the-night arson attack on a home in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota that was occupied by a family with small children who had Trump 2020 flags draped on the vehicles in their driveway.

Denis Molla told WCCO that he was blown out of bed by a loud boom at about 3 a.m. on Sept. 23 and looked out the window to see three people running away from his home as flamed engulfed his driveway and garage. Molla said he rushed to get his wife, Deana, and their two year old and five-month-old baby out of the house and to safety.

“Our family’s safe, that’s the main thing. All this is material, it’s all material. It’s not as important as our family,” he told WCCO.

Outside, their burning trucks, trailer, and garage shot flames into the sky fueled by accelerant.

Molla and his wife also managed to save four puppies who were trapped in their smoke-filled garage, WCCO reported.

“We’re just very happy to be alive, and praise God that we’re alive,” Deana Molla said.

The garage doors had been vandalized and showed the words “Biden 2020,” “BLM,” and an anarchy symbol spray-painted across what remained of them after the fire, WCCO reported.

Molla and his wife said they think they were targeted because of the two Trump 2020 flags they had displayed on their truck and trailer in the driveway.

They told WCCO that they bought the flags a week ago after Molla, a contractor, got into a disagreement with someone at work about his support for President Donald Trump.

But even so, both husband and wife said they were shocked their home had been firebombed over campaign signs.

“It just shocked me,” Molla said. “These kind of stuff should not happen, especially over beliefs of some sort.”

Investigators discovered that one of the Mollas’ security cameras had been blocked just before the explosion rocked the house, WCCO reported.

Footage captured by several other security cameras was taken by law enforcement for the investigation into who started the fire at the suburban Minneapolis home.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are jointly investigating the incident as arson, WCCO reported.