The “Covid Death Scoreboard”, as it has been dubbed, has been vandalized five times since it was installed Friday in Northbrook, Illinois, organizers said.
Goodman told CNN, “We did the sabotage even before we put up the display, but I was shocked because we’re all together in this state of the virus.” “To be honest when we put it on, I didn’t think anyone would pay attention.”
Spray paint mostly covers the name of President Trump, which is painted at the bottom of the sign. Goodman said the president’s name has been included as a measure of responsibility for the US government’s role in handling the epidemic.
Goodman said, “There are some things, like protecting against a global epidemic, that really should be done at the federal level and have leadership. And that’s just very lacking.”
He said he has made it a point for people to be aware of the virus and to speak up for the people and remember to hold our leaders accountable for how they have handled the epidemic.
Four police reports have been filed for each case of vandalism, Northbrook Village spokeswoman Cheryl Faye-Depersio said. Goodman said he filed a fifth police report about the latest incident.
“The sign’s disorder is being investigated,” Fayen-Depersio told CNN. “So far, no one has been charged.”
While the Village Council of Trustees were meeting on Tuesday, Goodman said police received a call that the sign had been vandalized with spray paint.
The community’s response has been mixed, with numerous residents emailing and phoning the village’s board of trustees.
Some of them committed the crime that the village was allowed to display the sign with a political message. Others were not happy about the commotion that ensued when the sign was unveiled while people were screaming at each other.
“When my 11-year-old son was on a bicycle with some friends last week, he told me that there were moms and dads screaming and pushing each other across the street from the train,” Josh Kapla, a local business owner, wrote in a message. To the board read at the meeting.
“Because despite all the animosity and animosity that exists in our world and country today, why do we want to exploit it on a platform in downtown Northbrook, our children will visit our beloved downtown every day and the time they will,” Frame said in a letter read.
Northbrook Village Attorney Steven Elrode explained at the meeting that the sign was placed in a public forum. He said the Park District owns the site and allowed public exhibitions until 1994, when the village chose not to use it as a public forum.
After the case went to federal court, Northbrook Village set up a public forum to the site with certain restrictions.
“When a property is a public forum … all the talk about that property should be the same.” Allerode said at the meeting.
The village will not be able to stop certain groups from posting their messages, as it would be a violation of free speech, he added.
He said the suppression of free speech is something that scares Goodman.
Goodman said he was concerned about the demonstration of people screaming at the sign’s site, saying they were preventing people from sharing messages in public forums and otherwise.
“They’re scaring people and that means other people won’t be able to participate, even if they have to.” “It’s a real threat to our society.”
.
