'Laws are meant to be interpreted': Riverwest man seeking to become governor films himself stealing campaign yard signs of state representatives
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A Riverwest man, who also wants to be Wisconsin's next governor, has filmed himself repeatedly taking the political campaign signs of two state representatives from yards in Milwaukee neighborhoods.
On May 27, Carlos LeMar Dixon posted cellphone video footage to his Facebook page, appearing to show him stealing signs from the campaigns of Rep. Francesca Hong, who is running for governor, and Rep. Ryan Clancy, who is running for re-election.
The following day, Dixon uploaded another video showing more of the same content.
He also created a post directly targeting politicians, saying they should "be grateful that all I want is yard signs and not their heads."
According to Wisconsin Elections Commission records, Dixon is an independent who filed his declaration of candidacy last fall. He is also running under the name Wisconsin Rebuild online.
Per Wisconsin law, it is illegal to remove, deface, or destroy a legally placed political sign on someone else's private property.
CBS 58's Ellie Nakamoto-White spoke with Dixon via phone on Thursday, who said he lives in Riverwest and is "deeply passionate" about advocating for socialism and the working class, and is running on a campaign of anti-capitalism, anti-imperialism and anti-colonialism.
"Taking the signs, I don't know what it does, but my political passion calls me to find buttons and press them," Dixon said, noting that he's focused on areas around Holton Street, which he sees as a dividing line that symbolizes the city's history of segregation.
"These guys have a stronghold on, I guess, political consciousness in the city, and if these are supposed to be the most politically conscious citizens in the city, I want to wake them up to what actually is going on."
When asked if he's only targeting Rep. Hong and Rep. Clancy, Dixon said yes.
"Ryan Clancy, Francesca Hong, any Democratic candidate or Democratic socialist, I don't separate them," Dixon said. "We need real people to stand up for us and not bargain with capitalists."
Both Hong and Clancy are members of the Wisconsin Legislature's socialist caucus and have been endorsed by the Milwaukee Democratic Socialists of America.
They have also both attended rallies in support of Palestine.
"I've read the law and I don't actually find that I've broken any laws," Dixon said. "Laws are meant to be, I guess, interpreted."
When asked if he would stop taking the signs on orders from police or other law enforcement, Dixon said he "would continue."
"I don't care about the opinions of the police," Dixon said.
Rep. Hong posted a response to the situation on her Facebook page, that said "This sucks, yard signs are freedom of speech."
CBS 58 also spoke with Rep. Clancy, who said he was "disappointed" by Dixon's actions.
"I mean, our volunteers take a lot of time putting signs into yards, our donors take some money out of their pockets to pay for them," Clancy said. "Theft is not something we're used to... I've seen individual reports of a neighbor having strong feelings and taking down another neighbor's sign or something, but never something coordinated like this."
He did, however, confirm that neither he nor Hong's team will be pursuing charges against Dixon.
"I wish him luck in those campaigns," Clancy said. "Neither my campaign nor Francesca's campaign have any intention of filing charges on this. What private property owners do on their own property is their own business, but no, I want to see this individual get the support he needs, not jail time."
The Milwaukee Police Department told CBS 58 they have not received any calls of service related to these thefts.