Cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad won't be on display again on billboards owned by Bright Signs of Harrison.
Chuck Bright, co-owner of Bright Signs, said there's just too much "crazy stuff" going on in the world.
"I wasn't worried about it until my kids starting worrying about it and said, 'What if somebody decides to show up and chop your head off?'"
Last week, six Marion County billboards owned by Bright Signs were "sniped" for a Prophet Muhammad cartoon.
In the billboard business, "snipes" are signs that are pasted over other billboards, typically to update or correct advertisements. In this case, the snipes were about 6 feet by 12 feet and were posted on vacant billboards of the same size. The vacant billboards did, however, contain the words "Bright Signs" and the company's telephone number.
"We spent a lifetime trying to build a good reputation," said Bright. "To have someone come along and screw it up like this kind of gets to you."
Bright said the cartoons were illegally posted June 9 on vacant billboards that his company owns. Three of the billboards are in Summit. Two are in the community of Snow on U.S. 62 west of Yellville. And one was between Snow and Yellville.
Bright said the billboards were up for at least a day before being covered with blue paper.
Daniel "Boone" Fuller, president of Adunity Media of St. Louis, said Monday that he was sorry for sniping Bright's billboards. Fuller said there are several vacant billboards in the area, and he thought they might have been abandoned.
"I didn't mean to cause Chuck any harm," said Fuller. "I realize the Muhammad cartoon is a sensitive subject. I sincerely apologize if I have caused Chuck any angst or anxiety over it."
Depicting the Prophet Muhammad is considered blasphemy to many Muslims.
Fuller said he plans to talk to Bright about leasing the billboards for other ads. Fuller said he posts a variety of billboards, including one that reads "Jesus Saves."
The billboards Fuller had posted in Marion County are part of a "free-speech campaign" by the American Freedom Defense Initiative. Fuller said Monday that he was contracted by the American Freedom Defense Initiative to post the billboards in the St. Louis area, where about 100 of them were installed.
The billboards depict a bearded man wearing a turban and wielding a sword. He's saying "You can't draw me!" Then these words come apparently from a hand drawing the image: "That's why I draw you." In large red letters to the left of the cartoon it reads "Support Free Speech."
According to a news release, the billboards feature the winning cartoon by Bosch Fawstin from the American Freedom Defense Initiative's Muhammad Art Exhibit and Cartoon Contest on May 3 in Garland, Texas. Two men who opened fire outside the event were shot and killed by police.
The Southern Poverty Law Center lists the American Freedom Defense Initiative as an active anti-Muslim group.
Bright said he drove to Mountain Home on Monday to file a complaint with the Marion County sheriff's office.
Sheriff Roger Vickers said he talked with Bright that morning.
"He wasn't making a formal complaint," said Vickers. "He just wanted us to know he had nothing to do with it. We're not launching a formal investigation at this point."
Bright said he thought he'd filed a formal complaint on Monday.
"I wouldn't have wasted my time going over there if I wasn't filling out a complaint," said Bright. "I filled out papers with my name and address and what had happened."
Vickers didn't return a telephone call late Monday.
The Baxter Bulletin of Mountain Home reported Thursday that Fuller was behind the Muhammad billboards in Marion County.
Fuller said he lived in Flippin from the fourth through 10th grades, and his father still lives in the area. Fuller said he drove to Arkansas to visit his father and saw the vacant billboards.
When asked about the Arkansas billboards, Pamela Geller, executive director of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, said in an email Saturday that her group wasn't involved.
"We bought the space in good faith from someone who was able to get the billboards up," Geller wrote. "Beyond that is an internal dispute in the company, with which we are not involved."
Bright said the 6-by-12-foot billboards rent for $60 per month. The company has about 70 billboards of that size and about 30 billboards that are twice as large.
Bright said people occasionally post signs on his billboards without paying or notifying him, but it's usually for less controversial things.
Metro on 06/16/2015