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Plymouth man says he was targeted by vandals for supporting President Trump

Posted at 6:44 PM, Nov 04, 2020
and last updated 2020-11-04 18:44:06-05

PLYMOUTH, Mich. (WXYZ) — A man in Plymouth believes his lawn sign supporting President Donald Trump is the reason why his house was struck by vandals.

It happened on Main Street near Ann Arbor Road.

Doug Walter is visibly upset.

He woke up the morning after Election Day to find the words “racist coward” graffitied on his garage door.

“I’m far from a racist and neither is my wife,” he explained. “I was devastated because my car has been damaged, my garage door has been painted with a racist thing on it.”

Doug believes the vandals struck shortly before midnight.

This isn’t the first time he says he was targeted.

Weeks ago, Doug said he had a smaller Trump sign on his lawn that was stolen.

“Went out and bought a bigger sign to express myself even more saying, ‘You’re not going to stop me from expressing my freedom of speech.’”

He’s been bringing the Trump 2020 sign inside every night, so thieves won’t hit again.

“I’m voicing my opinion and evidently, that’s not acceptable anymore in this country, and that’s wrong.”

But he never thought vandals would spray paint his home and car.

“What’s going on in this country that I can’t express my feelings? My father fought World War Two, Korea. My brother fought in Vietnam for our rights and our freedoms. I feel like they are being taken away from me.”

Doug says he is not a racist and if anyone thought he was one based on his support for President Trump, he wished they would have a conversation with him about it.

The homeowner believes the person responsible for this is the true coward.

“I guarantee this person does not know me.”

He has now filed a police report and he’s hoping a neighbors camera caught the vandals in action.

“What possesses them to do something like this, when they do not know me? Period. It’s wrong.”

Doug believes after deductibles, the repairs are going to cost him thousands of dollars.