A local Texas newspaper has cited the now iconic "Jokerbama"
image as an example of hate speech after a military veteran
reported the presence of the posters on light poles in his local
area to City Hall officials.
The Hays Free Press carried the headline Freedom...
of hate speech?on its front page late last
week next to the Infowars version of the Jokerbama image, with
the word "fascism" underneath.
The article notes that the appearance of the posters
has been spearheaded by Alex
Jones' competition, but only cites negative feedback
from a few local residents who they say have been taking the
posters down:
"This is appalling," [local resident]
Lutrick said. "I served in the military. That's my commander
in chief."
The article also quotes a City of Kyle spokesperson:
"Jerry Hendrix declined to comment about
the nature of the fliers hung in the public right-of-way, but
said they violate the city's sign ordinance. If caught, the
individual could be fined up to $2,000."
"Whoever is doing it needs to stop," Hendrix said.
"It creates additional work for our code enforcement officer."
Despite this threat of a fine, the article also
notes that there are "no actual restrictions prohibiting"
the placement of the posters.
Meanwhile, ABC
affiliate KBMT News reported on the appearance
of the posters in Tyler, Texas, noting that "Tyler police
took photos and collected some of the posters as evidence,"
as if they are investigating a crime.
Watch Alex Jones' breakdown
of this story from yesterday's syndicated Sunday show (begins
8 mins in):
The censorship of the image online also continues with Yahoo
owned photograph website Flickr now closing
down discussion forums on the image in addition
to removing the image from their pages.
Firas Alkhateeb, the artist behind the picture has said he
plans
to file a counterclaim against Flickr censorship
of his image.
A local Texas newspaper has cited the now iconic "Jokerbama"
image as an example of hate speech after a military veteran
reported the presence of the posters on light poles in his local
area to City Hall officials.
