MILL VALLEY (KPIX 5) — Some Bay Area voters who support Donald Trump have paid a price for backing the billionaire GOP candidate. They say they have been targeted by vandals.
Patty O'Day has been a registered Republican for more than a decade. She says this is, by far, the worst election she's seen.
"Many of the people that are Trump supporters have gone underground," says O'Day, but insists she remains "proud to be a Trump supporter, proud to be a deplorable."
Nonetheless, O'Day says she is afraid to display her support on her property.
She says she has had signs destroyed at her Mill Valley home, and her car was keyed multiple times.
Now she hides her Trump signs under a jacket in her car and uses a magnet instead of a bumper sticker so people won't key her car.
"I had a newer car and I didn't want to get damaged this time, so when I park I take it off." she says.
O'Day says there are a lot of secret Republicans out there this year who worry they'll be attacked if they publicly support Trump. "We had a rally over the weekend and people were cussing at us and giving us the finger."
Hollister resident J.W. Paine knows what that feels like. He says his house has been egged, car windows smashed, and vandals set his American flag on fire twice.
Now Paine has asked his teenage daughters to sleep at their grandparents' house until after the election.
"My 13-year-old is scared to come back home … my wife is not happy," says Paine.
Despite the property damage and verbal bashing they've endured, O'Day and Paine say they plan to continue to proudly support Trump, though they're confident other supporters are afraid to be vocal for fear of becoming targets themselves.
"We know what is right and we're going to vote for Trump," says O'Day. "They can't stop us from voting."
O'Day and Paine have both filed police reports, but so far no charges have been filed.
Source: www.bing.com
