{"id":10772,"date":"2016-08-11T06:51:32","date_gmt":"2016-08-11T06:51:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=10772"},"modified":"2016-08-11T06:53:42","modified_gmt":"2016-08-11T06:53:42","slug":"giant-t-for-trump-replaces-one-that-was-torched-on-lawn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/politics\/giant-t-for-trump-replaces-one-that-was-torched-on-lawn.html","title":{"rendered":"Giant T (for Trump) replaces one that was torched on lawn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Giant T (for Trump) replaces one that was torched on lawn<\/strong> <\/span><\/h2>\n

Giant T (for Trump) replaces one that was torched on lawn<\/strong> : NEW YORK \u2014 A huge red-white-and-blue letter T in tribute to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump<\/strong> has risen on a lawn days after a slightly smaller one was torched there.<\/span><\/p>\n

Artist Scott LoBaido<\/strong> knew he was being provocative when he erected the first 12-foot-high T on Trump supporter Sam Pirozzolo\u2019s lawn<\/strong> on Staten Island in May. But on Wednesday he was in shock over the arson attack last weekend.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a patriotic activist promoting Americanism all over the country,\u201d LoBaido declared as he stood by his 16-foot-high new letter, almost as tall as Pirozzolo\u2019s house.<\/span><\/p>\n

Passing motorists honked and shouted their approval.<\/span>
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LoBaido said the original T was his response to harassment of Trump supporters, including signs with Trump\u2019s name being pulled from their lawns.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the first time LoBaido\u2019s artworks have been defaced. Last year, a man was arrested on Staten Island for applying anti-Semitic and anti-government graffiti on the artist\u2019s American flags, which he\u2019s been painting on Veterans of Foreign Wars posts around the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

LoBaido himself was arrested in 1999 for hurling horse manure at the Brooklyn Museum, protesting a show he deemed anti-Christian, with elephant dung applied to an image of Mary. In 2001, he was thrown out for displaying a painting of the museum director facing a pig\u2019s rump, ready to bite it.<\/span><\/p>\n

For the T installation, he used latex paint on foam insulation, resting on a surviving wooden support that\u2019s charred black.<\/span><\/p>\n

Investigators are trying to determine who sneaked up under cover of darkness and set fire to the original T on Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pirozzolo, who was awakened at about 1 a.m. when a passing motorist knocked on his door to alert him about the fire, said he blames \u201cpro-Hillary Clinton thugs<\/strong>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As the Trump tribute went up in flames, he said, \u201cthe first thing that came to my mind was, \u2018Oh, my God, this is like the Ku Klux Klan burning a cross on my lawn, telling me that I have to shut up.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, Pirozzolo and the artist set to work the next day, assembling another installation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pirozzolo said Trump called to thank them for their show of support. Pirozzolo\u2019s wife and two teenage kids listened in.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Tuesday, hundreds of people appeared in the street after the new T went up, singing \u201cGod Bless America\u201d and criticizing Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee<\/strong>. A few Trump haters used a megaphone to shout insults.<\/span><\/p>\n

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source<\/strong>:https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national\/giant-t-for-trump-replaces-one-that-was-torched-on-lawn\/2016\/08\/10\/53eebb10-5f64-11e6-84c1-6d27287896b5_story.html<\/span><\/p>\n

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