New billboards around California point to the Uvalde school shooting to warn residents from moving to Texas. But who is behind the billboards is a mystery.
“The Texas miracle died in Uvalde. Don’t move to Texas,” a billboard reads.
The familiar slogan, “Don’t Mess with Texas,” is crossed out in red, next to a photo of a hooded man wearing sunglasses.
Photos of the billboards were posted recently to Reddit, where they have sparked anger, confusion and curiosity.
“This is vile,” one person said. “Imagine being the families of the victims and seeing this.”
“Who’s paying for that advertisement?” one user asked. “Is Texas buying billboards to deter Californian expatriates from turning their state blue?”
It is not known who paid for the billboards or how many have popped up, but users on Reddit have reported seeing them in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
FoxPoint Media, a billboard advertising agency listed on at least one of the billboards, did not return phone calls or emails seeking additional information.
Nineteen children and two teachers were killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde in May. It was the deadliest school shooting ever at a Texas public school and the deadliest in the U.S. in a decade.
The “Texas Miracle” on the billboard refers to the state’s regulatory model, which helped it escape the worst of the Great Recession.
The California-to-Texas migration has been heavily reported in recent years. One in every 10 Texas transplants is from California, according to a study by the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University.
In 2019, more than 23,800 California residents relocated to Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties.
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