A Michigan man was charged after repeatedly placing signs to a nearby utility pole, once with a menacing note threatening anyone who tried to remove the signs.
On July 27, Thomas Roy, a landscaper who owns Ultimate Lawnpros LLC, was driving past the former Sears building where he is contracted to perform maintenance work when he spotted the signs.
MLive reported that Roy removed the signs and placed them by a green meter box for the person who placed them to reclaim them.
The signs included messaging that was supportive of former President Donald Trump and defensive of police. As a Trump supporter, Roy said he favored these positions.
The following day when Roy returned to the area, the signs had been put back on to the utility pole, except this time they were accompanied by a threatening note.
Michigan man pleads to threatening gun violence if political signs disturbed https://t.co/y5YYHIj8CV
— MLive (@MLive) September 25, 2024
"I set up a camera and I'm out in the far distance with a 9mm gun," the note read. "Any bastard takes my signs down in a [lame] democrat attempt will pay! You up for my wrath?"
The threat of violence within the note prompted Roy to report the incident to law enforcement. Some hours later, 50-year-old Andrew Leslie Reel went to Saginaw Township Police Department to report that signs belonging to him had been stolen. Upon being questioned by officers, Reel admitted that the signs Roy reported were his and that he had been the one to write the note Roy found.
Reel stated that he thought he had the right to place the signs on the utility pole, and that the note was only a joke and not a legitimate threat. He admitted to owning a 9mm pistol, which his son turned in to the police department, stating that his father "is 'crazy' and should not have a gun."
While Reel was arrested for making terroristic threats, Saginaw County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Blair N. Stevenson felt that his actions did not meet the requirements of that charge. Instead, he was charged with disturbing a person in pursuit of their occupation, and appeared before Saginaw County District Judge Terry L. Clark on Aug. 1.
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