A North Carolina man who says he’s upset about the business next door to his home has put up a sign in his yard asking President Donald Trump to deport people in his neighborhood.
“BUILD THE WALL/DEPORT THEM ALL/TRUMP START WITH MY NEIGHBORHOOD FIRST” reads the sign that Douglas Dietrich placed at his home in Grifton, Pitt County. The news was first reported by WITN.
Dietrich lives next door to the automotive, aircraft and boat repair business Monkeys Garage, owned by Enrique Garfias. According to WITN, Garfias told them that he was a “legal citizen of the United States” and that he found the sign offensive, since it was targeted at him.
Garfias said he thinks there is racism behind Dietrich’s sign. He added that Dietrich has problems “not just with Hispanic people” but that he targets Hispanic people more, because “he thinks he can do it to us.”
“There is so much hate already. I don’t hate him,” Garfias said. “He thinks he’s right. People out there are gonna see what he’s doing is not right.”
Calls to Garfias’ business and other phone numbers were not answered. A call by NBC News on Thursday to a number believed to belong to Dietrich disconnected before anyone spoke. When called again, the person who responded said “Stop f—ing calling me” and hung up.
Dietrich told WITN that part of the reason he was upset was because Monkeys Garage was able to operate in a residential neighborhood. He said that years ago he wanted to operate a business on the property where Monkeys Garage is, but was told by previous town officials he couldn’t do so because it’s in a residential neighborhood.
The dispute has led to conflicting comments on social media as community members have weighed in. Dietrich said the social media attention leads him to want to keep the sign in place.
There were questions raised over whether Dietrich’s sign was in compliance with local regulations in Grifton and its extraterritorial jurisdiction, which is where Dietrich lives.
“Everyone has the right to freedom of speech,” Dylan Haman, town manager of Grifton, told NBC News. “Whether anyone agrees with what the sign says or not that’s up to the public and whether or not they think it’s a neighborly thing to do is another question.”
While the town of less than 3,000 has to respect Dietrich’s right to freedom of speech, the town does have zoning rules about permit requirements, where signs can be located, their size and height, etc., Haman said.
“He can say anything from, ‘I love Jesus’ to political. We don’t get into that because that’s a First Amendment issue,” he said.
A permit application for the sign was submitted Wednesday, Haman said. A determination on whether the sign complies with the local sign ordinance might come at the end of the week, the town manager said, adding that and “there are some regulations about what’s allowed in residential districts” that have to be considered too.
Haman said there had not been considerations yet on whether the sign could lead to people targeting Garfias and his business or some kind of violence.
“We are not pro or against any political party … We are just a town trying to provide service,” Haman said, who noted that the town board is elected in unaffiliated elections. “We just encourage everybody to be more neighborly.”
