A Michigan township employee had his hand sliced open and required 13 stitches after he tried to remove a Trump-Pence 2020 sign that had been booby-trapped with razor blades.
An employee with Commerce Township had been instructed to remove the campaign sign because it violated a city ordinance, according to a press release from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office obtained by CNN.
The sign was “located 24 [feet] from the center of the road clearly in the right of way.” City rules state that signs, whether they’re political or for events like garage sales, need to be 33 feet from the street.
A 52-year-old city inspector who was not named was tasked with moving the sign and was cut by razor blades attached to the bottom. A second Trump sign was also discovered with a similar sharp device.
“Several signs were taken from property that had several razor blades taped all the way along the bottom of the sign,” officials wrote.
The homeowner told deputies “their signs were taken and when they returned from out of town the signs were back in their yard,” the release read. “The homeowner denies any knowledge of the blades.”
Three fingers on the inspector’s left hand had been sliced open by the line of blades, and the man began “aggressively bleeding.”
David Scott, the worker’s supervisor, said that the employee drove himself to a nearby hospital. There was no damage to any nerves or tendons in his fingers but, the worker still only has limited use of his hand at this point.
“You can’t boobytrap signs with the intent to hurt someone,” Scott told Fox 2 Detroit. “I’ve seen signs tied to a tree, chained to fence post or a mail box — preventing them from being removed. This was simply laid out to hurt someone. And it did.”
The signs were seized by local law enforcement. It is unclear if the owner will face any charges.