Cycling social media platform Strava has apparently been used to find a cyclist that twice set alight to a sign outside a neighbor's house claiming Donald Trump won the 2020 US presidential election.
The cyclist is now being sued by the sign’s owner.
Since his defeat by Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election Republican Trump has repeatedly claimed the election was stolen from him.
Earlier this month Raleigh, North Carolina resident John Kane shared a video on social media of a cyclist first trying to kick down the sign on his front lawn, which simply read “Trump won”.
The video then shows a person in cycling kit setting light to the sign, under the cover of darkness, on two separate occasions.
In his post Kane offered a reward of $1,000 for anyone helping to find the person who set alight to the sign.
$1,000 reward for the ID of this arsonist - help me make him a felon. #trump #trumpwon #ncpol pic.twitter.com/g8JLoZSQ70August 18, 2023
On Monday, Kane posted that he had received help in finding the person who set alight to the sign as a result of his original post, and that the individual's “profile and GPS, timestamped maps” of their rides from Strava had led him to find them.
Today he filed a civil lawsuit against the individual he believes is responsible, James White.
In court papers Kane’s attorney James Lawrence writes that Kane and his family were left “shaken and shocked” to “see the sign reduced to ashes” on the morning of August 15.
Lawrence wrote: “White had every opportunity to abort his fiery, intolerant mission. John’s house is more than two miles away from White’s. It took White several minutes to pedal over to John’s house.”
Kane replaced the sign, which had previously been spray painted on three separate occasions, but three days later it was burned down again.
In the court papers, Lawrence wrote: “White obviously disagrees with John’s political views. White has every right to criticize the message on John’s sign, and John has every right to convey his message. Our democracy demands nothing less. Here though, under the cover of darkness, White not only assailed our norms and standards, the cyclist burned private property.”
Kane is seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
