‘9-1-1’ Billboard Vandalized With Anti-Beto O’Rourke Message
A billboard for the Fox procedural “9-1-1” on Pico Blvd., adjacent to the studio lot, has been vandalized with an anti-Beto O’Rourke message, Variety has learned. The imagery was put up by a politically conservative man who goes by ‘Sabo.’
The promotional art for the series featured on the billboard shows a car wreck sticking out of a building. The “9-1-1” title has been replaced with “Beto Runs,” and Sabo has placed an image of O’Rourke with a mustache, a sombrero and a bottle of tequila in his hand in the foreground. The vandalized image appears to be a reference to the former Texas congressman’s DWI arrest in 1998.
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A Fox spokesperson noted that the vandalization is being removed, but declined to comment further.
O’Rourke announced on March 14 that he is running for president in 2020, saying in his campaign launch video that the “challenges we face are the greatest in living memory.”
I am running to serve you as the next president. The challenges we face are the greatest in living memory. No one person can meet them on their own. Only this country can do that, and only if we build a movement that includes all of us. Say you're in: https://t.co/EKLdkVET2u pic.twitter.com/lainXyvG2n
— Beto O'Rourke (@BetoORourke) March 14, 2019
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
O’Rourke was a relatively low-key congressman from an El Paso-area district, before coming close to defeating Ted Cruz in last year’s Senate race. His Senate campaign gained traction for its ability to raise huge sums from the grassroots and the candidate’s charisma, which included extensive, verite-like use of Facebook Live.
He will officially kick off his campaign in El Paso on March 30.
In October, 2018, Sabo targeted a billboard promoting the film “Halloween,” placing the face of Democratic congresswoman Maxine Waters over the body of the film’s main character. He has also previously vandalized bus stops around Los Angeles with anti-Bernie Sanders and pro-Trump imagery.
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