Kentucky residents bash Trump in graffiti that costs over $43,000 to fix, police say
Two Kentucky residents were arrested Thursday and accused of causing more than $43,000 worth of vandalism with graffiti, some of which criticized President Donald Trump, the Louisville Metro Police Department said.
Robert Eiden, 60, and Sonja Devries, have been charged in 34 separate incidents of vandalism, according to LMPD. The damage cost more than $43,000 to repair, police said.
The two could be responsible for another $25,000 or more in damages, police said.
“Your right to free speech is protected constitutionally however, spray-painting on property that doesn’t belong to you is a crime,” LMPD said in a Facebook post. “ ... It’s not the crime of the century but there are other ways to exercise your speech and beliefs ... legally.”
Detectives had been investigating the criminal mischief throughout Louisville and Jefferson County, according to Eiden’s arrest citation. The graffiti had been painted on I-64, I-65 and I-265 overpasses, according to the citation.
The graffiti dates back to October 2017, according to the arrest citation. The department of transportation determined that it had spent over $24,000 cleaning up graffiti left by Eiden and Devries between October 2017 and October 2019, according to the citation. The rest of the graffiti had been drawn since then.
According to photos posted by LMPD, some of their messages read:
“End cash bail free them all!”
“Trump is sick 2020.”
“Resist.”
“Trump lies people die.”
This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 11:50 AM.