Mo. man’s highway sign assailing Democrats gets torched twice, now he’s offering $5K reward

Mo. man’s sign against Democrats torched twice

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Missouri man who had the side of a semi-truck box trailer professionally painted with a sign assailing Democrats says he put the trailer in a cornfield along a busy highway because he wanted people to see it. The sign, next to U.S. 71 about an hour south of Kansas City, reads: “Are you a Producer or Parasite. Democrats - Party of the Parasites.”

A lot of people have seen David Jungerman’s sign, and someone clearly has not liked it. It’s been torched twice, first on May 12, then about a week later. Then an empty farm house that Jungerman, 72, owns was also set on fire, The Kansas City Star reported.

“Things are getting a little out of hand out there,” said Chief Deputy Justin Moreland of the Bates County Sheriff’s Office.

Jungerman has posted a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest for the fires, which have left the sign harder to read and the trailer tires burnt to nothing.

Jungerman said he should have been more clear that he wasn’t taking aim at local Democrats.

“They’re more conservative than many Republicans,” he said. “I should have put an ad in the paper to explain that. No, I meant the national Democrat parasite base that is sucking this country dry.

“The ones that just take from the government and not give anything back.”

And to be sure, local Democrats don’t want to be linked to the fires. Jungerman has every right to speak his mind, said Kay Caskey, a Bates County Democrat and wife of longtime state Sen. Harold Caskey.

“Obviously our country is in disarray now because of economics, jobs and foreclosures,” she said. “We are hurting as a country. But there are too many people who want to tear it down instead of build it up. Yes, there is anger out there, and we are a long way from Washington.

“This man has a right to do what he did, but around here some people might wonder at what point do you cross the line?”

Jungerman says he’s not even a die-hard Republican. He voted for Claire McCaskill when she won a U.S. Senate seat in 2006. He put the sign out to make a point.

His problem now is that corn is looking good, and soon it will obscure his trailer sign from highway traffic.

“Well, I would have pulled it out of there by now if they hadn’t burned the tires off,” he said.

Information from: The Kansas City Star, www.kcstar.com