RICHMOND, Ky. (LEX 18) — A digital billboard along the Richmond bypass is generating strong reactions with its blunt political message: "YOUR PRESIDENT IS A FELON."
The blue sign, located in the traditionally red-leaning Madison County, has sparked heated online debate since it was installed just before Thanksgiving by Dylan Creech of Forward Press, LLC.
"Whether or not you agree with the message, you are being prompted to react and engage with it, which is the core of democracy - having to reckon with some of that stuff," Creech said.
Creech said he strategically placed the billboard to reach people who might not typically encounter such messaging on social media, and he anticipated pushback.
"There are obviously some dissenting opinions online, which is not surprising, but I think it proves my point, proves why this is an important thing to do because there are people saying 'Should this be taken down?' and just shocked by it," Creech said. "My rebuttal is, I'm not saying anything that's not factual, I'm saying something proven true."
A Manhattan jury convicted Donald Trump of 34 counts of falsifying business records on May 30, 2024. A judge later sentenced him to an unconditional discharge on January 10 of this year. Trump's legal team has appealed the conviction and the appeals remain pending.
When asked if the billboard would remain, Creech confirmed it would stay up and revealed plans for expansion.
"Oh, it'll be there, and frankly, there are more coming in Richmond and Lexington and I'm talking with people in Berea," Creech said.
Legal experts say the controversial sign is protected speech under the First Amendment. Dr. Kathryn Montalbano, a media law expert and professor at UK, explained that forcing the billboard's removal would be difficult.
"This is protected speech under the First Amendment. There are a few exceptions to the First Amendment, including true threats and fighting words, neither of which this meets, and for better or worse the first amendment protects a lot of speech in this country...so unfortunately for them, offense is not a good reason to restrict speech," Montalbano said.
She added that a defamation claim would be challenging to argue since truth serves as a complete defense, and political statements receive stronger constitutional protection than commercial ones.
"They can look at the court documents themselves. This is truthful information, but even if it wasn't there are a lot of lies that have entered political spaces in many election cycles and that is just how the regulation goes when it comes to allowing more protection of free expression in political discourse versus commercial," Montalbano said.
