Trump sign sparks threats

The message behind the 40-foot-wide billboard in downtown Phoenix’s arts district is clear.

On one side, President Trump’s face sits between two mushroom clouds, flanked by money signs drawn to resemble swastikas. A small Russian flag is visibly pinned to his lapel.

On the other side of the billboard is the word “Unity,” and below the word, “unity” is spelled out in sign language.

It’s the latest piece of resistance art against Trump’s administration. And Karen Fiorito, the Santa Monica-based artist behind it, said there aren’t plans to take it down anytime soon. Even amid death threats.

“There have been a couple of people who have said they will come and get me, or that I should be sleeping with a gun underneath my pillow,” she told CBS Los Angeles.

Artist and historic preservationist Beatrice Moore owns the billboard and the property below it, which houses a clothing design store called 11th Monkey. Moore commissioned Fiorito to design the controversial work after Trump’s election.

Up for less than five days, it has, unsurprisingly, already stirred debate.

According to the Phoenix New Times, two protesters held pro-Trump signs “with visible guns in tow” outside the store on Sunday. Others have flocked to the area after hearing about the billboard.

In an email to The Times, Fiorito said that “due to security concerns,” she’s not discussing the matter further.

This isn’t the first protest piece Fiorito has created. In 2004, she was responsible for another billboard that criticized the Bush administration for invading Iraq.