Amidst the insanity of the 2016 election, prospective voters have shown their disdain for the candidates in a variety of ways. Donald Trump supporters rally while Hillary Clinton supporters protest outside; both sides take to social media with a slew of opinionated memes, while some go with the old method of signs in front yards.
These methods are pretty standard, not too crazy. Oh wait, someone just destroyed Trump’s star on Hollywood Boulevard?
Early Wednesday, a man identifying himself as Jamie Otis, heir to the Otis Elevator Company fortune, took a pickaxe and hammer to the Republican candidate’s star, smashing his name and the camera icon that Trump received for the success of his show, The Apprentice, in 2007.
Otis spoke with The LA Times in a phone interview, stating:
“I just sort of had enough with Mr. Trump’s aggressive language toward women and his behavior, his sexual violence with women and against women. I’ve had personally in my own family four people who have been assaulted or have had sexual violence happen to them. It all became very personal.”
A man takes a photo of the vandalized star for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Otis referred to it as a nonviolent act and said that he intended to remove the star and auction it off to help raise money for the 11 women accusing Trump of varying degrees of sexual assault. Trump has repeatedly denied all allegations.
As stated on USA Today, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President Leron Gubler announced that he would replace the star and added that his group intends to “prosecute the vandal to the full extent of the law” and that he would do so “for any Walk of Fame star that has been vandalized.”
Under California state law, a felony vandalism conviction would amount to up to three years in jail and a maximum of $10,000 in fines.
Otis stated in an interview with the Times that, “I will gladly pay the money if I have to and if I must go to jail, I will.”
