WILSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Two people accused of vandalizing Trump signs in Mt. Juliet will be prosecuted by Wilson County's district attorney, Jason Lawson.
Mt. Juliet police told News 2 that a 16-year-old girl and a 75-year-old man face vandalism charges.
“Both of them should have known better. This was on private property, and this is our private property. We had to replace this particular sign four different times,” Brad Lytle, chairman of the Wilson County Republican Party said.
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Lytle held up one of the several Trump signs that were vandalized in Mt. Juliet. “It looks like they used a knife or a box cutter because it's pretty sharp."
Along North Mt. Juliet road, "felon" and "racist" have also been spraypainted in red and black paint.
“I would say it’s extreme I certainly wouldn’t do it to the competitor,” Lytle said.
However, the Republican party isn’t alone. Officials from the Wilson County Democratic party said their headquarters was vandalized back in August, with Trump stickers placed on their property. A security system has since been installed.
“It's America, we can settle this at the polls, we don’t need to settle this on the streets doing this kind of nonsense,” Lytle said.
Lytle said the Republican party chose to keep some of the signs up to motivate voters to go to the polls. However, he said he hopes the vandals receive consequences.
“We aren’t against them getting the maximum penalty because it’s not only vandalism but it's a violation of our First Amendment rights,” Lytle said.
Vandalism is considered a Class A misdemeanor and carries a maximum sentence of almost a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.