A Democrat candidate for the North Carolina House was arrested and charged after being seen removing campaign signs for former President Donald Trump.
Lowell Simon, who serves as the head of the Democrat Party in Moore County, admitted he had “removed” the Trump signs on Thursday evening, and acknowledged that he “shouldn’t have done that,” according to WRAL News.
“My worse angels got the better of me and I removed the signs,” Simon admitted in a statement. “I shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t do it in the stealth of night or anything. I did it when it was five o’clock in the afternoon.”
The Moore County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a Facebook post that a deputy who had been “responding to an unrelated call” noticed Simon removing campaign signs from a community, and “followed up at Simon’s residence.”
On Octobber 10, 2024, at approximately 5:25 p.m., a sheriff’s deputy working in the West End area observed Lowell Simon removing campaign signs from the roadside along Seven Lakes Drive. The deputy, who was responding to an unrelated call at the time, later followed up at Simon’s residence, where the signs were found in his vehicle. Simon admitted to removing the signs, which were then recovered and returned to their originial owner.
Simon was charged with “two counts of misdemeanor larceny of political signs,” according to the sheriff’s office.
On Friday, “a warrant for Simon’s arrest was issued,” regarding the removal of the signs, the Moore County Sheriff’s Office added in the Facebook post.
Simon was “released under a written promise to appear in court,” and is set to appear at the Moore County District Court on October 30, 2024, according to the sheriff’s office.
“If people are going to break the law, myself included, there should be consequences,” Simon said, according to WRAL News, claiming he is faced with Democrat signs being removed and stolen as well. “But, the law should be applied equally. I understand that sometimes you catch the criminal and sometimes you don’t, but it has to be applied equally.”