Tulsa World: Oklahoma City officer pulls man over for anti-Obama sign

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Oklahoma City officer pulls man over for anti-Obama sign

Chip Harrison speaks Thur. Feb. 19, 2009 about what has happened to him since police officers stopped him and took his Abort Obama Not The Unborn sign from his truck. Jaconna Aguirre/THE OKLAHOMAN

By Associated Press
Published: 2/19/2009 5:37 AM
Last Modified: 2/19/2009 4:33 PM

Documents: View a PDF of the incident report.

OKLAHOMA CITY — Policemen pulled over a man with a sign in his pickup truck window that read "Abort Obama, not the unborn" and confiscated the placard, but later returned it after police supervisors found the officers' actions "overzealous."

"The officer said, 'Do you know why I pulled you over?'" Hal "Chip" Harrison said. "I said I had no idea, and he said that the sign could be construed by the Secret Service as a threat to the president.

"I thought, 'this is something from Nazi Germany, not in Oklahoma.'"

Two police officers stopped the 53-year-old Oklahoma City construction worker last week as he drove to work.

They took the sign and notified the local field office for the Secret Service.

"The bottom line is the officer was a little overzealous in terms of what the sign meant," said Capt. Steve McCool, a spokesman for Oklahoma City Police Department. "He made a decision based on his determination, and once the supervisor got involved, we returned the sign to him."

Harrison said U.S. Secret Service agents interviewed him at his home and walked through his house.

Adrian Andrews, special agent in charge of the Secret Service's Oklahoma City field office, said agents determined Harrison was not a threat.

"He was a little agitated that the Oklahoma City Police Department took his sign," Andrews said. "But he understood we have an obligation to check these things out.

"I send my agents to check out every one of these, to find out and dig a little bit deeper."

Harrison said he's no fan of Obama's but that his homemade sign was a political statement opposing abortion, not a threat to Obama. He said he usually has one or two people every day who see the sign and give him a "thumbs up" as he's driving down the road.

Harrison said the sign is back up in his truck, and that he's considering whether to pursue a civil matter against the police department for what he considers a violation of his right to free speech.

"I am trying to pursue it, because I've always been kind of a loudmouth," Harrison said. "If I can find a lawyer who will take the case, I probably would."

Andrews said he would not encourage anyone to put a similar sign on their vehicle.

"There are better ways to make a political statement than to say 'Abort Obama,'" Andrews said. "That's going to get our attention every time.

"We'd rather be safe than sorry."

By Associated Press

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Reader comments for this story have been moved to the most updated version of the story, now under the headline "Attention following sign," which was published on 2/20/2009. So far, 440 comments have been made.