'Hanging Palin' causes Halloween display uproar
Agence France-Presse
Published: Tuesday October 28, 2008
LOS ANGELES (AFP) – A Halloween display showing a figure resembling Republican vice presidential pick Sarah Palin hanging by a noose has caused uproar in the Californian city of West Hollywood, leading to condemnation Monday from the local mayor.
Chad Michael Morrisette has the effigy, wearing Palin's trademark red jacket, glasses, high heels and a wig, hanging from the roof of his house in the city to the west of Los Angeles.
"It should be seen as art and it should be seen within the month of October. It is Halloween. It's time to be scary. It's time to be spooky," he told local television channel KCAL9.
Mayor Jeffrey Prang issued a statement condemning the display, in which a disfigured model of presidential candidate John McCain can also be seen surrounded by flames.
"While these residents have the legal right to the display of Senator McCain and Governor Palin, I strong oppose political speech that references violence -- real or perceived," he said.
"I urge these residents to take down their display and find more constructive ways to express their opinion," he continued.
West Hollywood is one of the main gay areas of the United States. About 500,000 people are expected there Friday for one of the biggest Halloween carnivals in the country.
Halloween is rooted in pagan Celtic and Christian feasts and sees Americans decorate their homes with ghoulish displays of ghosts, witches and other monsters.
LEAVITTSBURG, Ohio (AP) -- A teenager was wounded in the arm by a man who said he wanted to stop the boy and another from taking his John McCain yard sign.
Warren Township police Lt. Don Bishop said 50-year-old Kenneth Rowles told officers he got out a .22-caliber rifle Saturday afternoon to fire warning shots, not hurt anyone. The two shots hit the van the teens were in.
Rowles pleaded not guilty Monday to felonious assault. A preliminary hearing was set for Nov. 4, Election Day.
Kyree Flowers, the 17-year-old passenger in the van, was wounded in the arm and was treated at a hospital, Bishop said.
The victim and his cousin admitted stealing signs at the Rowles home and elsewhere, Bishop said Tuesday. Rowles had the only McCain sign on a street with numerous Barack Obama signs, according to Bishop.
He said there was no evidence the thefts were anything more than teen vandalism. No charges were filed against the boys.
Local Republican and Democratic officials said campaign signs have been disappearing frequently and people were frustrated.
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