Arizona artist receiving death threats over controversial anti-Trump billboard
The artist behind an Arizona billboard attacking President Donald Trump claims she is now the subject of death threats after news and photos of her creation went national.
According to AzCentral, artist Karen Fiorito knew she would get a strong reaction for her work which went up of Friday and depicts Trump accompanied by mushroom clouds and stylized Nazi swastikas combined with dollar signs. On the reverse side, the billboard displays the word "Unity" with five hands spelling out the word in sign language.
While Fiorito expected flak she didn't anticipate the flood of threats against not only herself but her family.
"I've been called a communist, a Satan worshiper," Fiorita explained. "I've been told I'm a 'very, very sick person.' I'm not sure what that means. I haven't been answering the phone. My husband has because he's not afraid to talk to anyone, but he told me he received a couple death threats this morning. ... He said, 'They were coming to get us with their boys.' "
Fiorito explained that she was commissioned by a local art gallery to create the artwork that was blown up to billboard size and displayed in downtown Phoenix during an art festival.
"Billboards are perfect because you don't have to go to a gallery to see it," she said. "You're creating a dialogue with the public. You're reaching people you'd never reach with your artwork."
Fiorito added that this is not the first time she has been threatened over her artwork and had created a billboard in 2004, attacking President George W. Bush's re-election and calling him a "liar."
"I've had people tell me they're going to come rape me and kill me," she said.
A photo of Fiorito's Trump billboard below via Facebook:
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