FRESNO, Calif. (KMPH) — A political sign with profanity can be seen in a window from outside Fresno City Hall in California.
Someone reached out to KMPH to say they found the sign offensive because in Spanish it says F#@$ Trump.
The anti-trump political sign with Spanish profanity can be seen in Fresno Councilmember Miguel Arias' office window.
KMPH News reached out to Arias for an interview or comment.
His office provided the following statement from Arias saying, "Offensive is having a former republican president on trial for paying off a porn star and covering it up before an election while Fox News is talking about signs."
Clarification: KMPH is not affiliated with Fox News.We asked if he plans to keep the signs up. His office never responded.
KMPH had reached out to City Attorney Andrew Janz multiple times throughout the day via phone, text, and email.
He responded the following after our story aired saying, “For the time being, we are going to rely on the Fresno County DA’s opinion that elected officials are on the clock 24-7 and that this type of speech and activity is allowed.”
KMPH also questioned if it is against the city's municipal code for someone in public office to post political signs of that sort in a city building.
A political science professor from Fresno State answered that question.
"I'm not 100% sure it's illegal," Professor Tom Holyoke said "It is certainly not something that is supposed to be done and I suspect about a 95% chance that it is illegal because what we are doing is that we would be using taxpayer money to support a political statement."
Is it ethical? He answered, "I think it's pretty clear that it's unethical. I mean using, you know, taxpayer-funded office space to put about a political message...in this case, I think they may have crossed the line.”
KMPH reached out to a previous political candidate Matthew Gillian who says his campaign signs were taken down around town by Janz's office when he was running for office.
He asked why but said he wasn't given a clear answer.
"People would ask, but why did they take down your signs? In the e-mail that you're reading there, the best answer that I got was they were deemed a nuisance," Gillian said.
His response to the political sign that is on display at city hall right now?
“It's not a sign that I have personally seen but I guess there was complaint about that sign, and that sign has not been removed. So, the question was why were signs like mine and other candidates targeted and removed?" he said.
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