How a karate studio in Conn. got caught up in politics

Dojo owner: No harm meant by ‘Kill Bob’ sign

GREENWICH — A Cos Cob business owner said what was intended to be a motivational sign ended up incorrectly misinterpreted as a threat against Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski.

The Greenwich Police Department was called Tuesday morning after people working a state GOP field office on East Putnam Avenue saw a sign hanging nearby that said “Kill Bob” on it.

Greenwich police determined the sign was not a threat to Stefanowski and had, in fact, been put there by a nearby karate dojo as a motivational tool, they said.

Jonathan Simon, headmaster and co-founder of Greenwich Kempo, confirmed that the sign referred to “Bob” a dummy used by his students during their training. He said the sign, with the words spelled out in colored tape and flowers or stars drawn on it, was hung as motivation for a local student trying for her black belt.

“On Sunday, (she) tested for her black belt and her best friend made the poster for her to encourage her to ‘kill' that section of the test,” Simon told Greenwich Time. “It was supposed to be supportive. Bob is a punching dummy. Bob lives in the dojo all year round except for the magical time twice a year where he gets to go outside and feel the wind on his face.”

As part of the test for the black belt, Simon said students go into the parking lot to “give Bob a tour of the outside world” by carrying the dummy across the length of the parking lot.

Simon compared the tradition to the military code of “never leaving a man behind.” Any time Bob falls over from the wind or anything else, he has to be picked up before the testing students carry him around to see the nearby flowers and trees.

Simon, who along with his wife have run the family-owned business in town for close to a decade, said nobody intended to cause any alarm.

Despite the use of the word “kill” on the sign,

Simon said the intent was never to promote violence.

“This is not what we do, what we believe or how we operate,” Simon wrote in an email to Greenwich Time. “We do not ever glorify violence, encourage our students to ‘kill' anything or anything remotely similar.”

He added, “The poster was made by a 13-year-old girl trying to support her best friend through a section of the test . ... The sign was written by teenagers, so you have to remember how they speak. The way they wish each other luck is not to say ‘good luck' but rather to say ... ‘Kill this section of the test.' ”

Simon said similar support posters are generally kept on display for a few days so students can “bask in their victory,” which is why it was still there on Tuesday.

He said he wished someone had come to the dojo to ask about the sign before contacting the police, but after the sign was explained and it became apparent there was no threat against anyone, staff and police had friendly conversations about what had happened and the misunderstanding, he said.

“We were able to get the whole thing cleared up,” Simon said. “We can laugh about it now but we've spent the last 10 years in town really building grassroots relationships and really taking care of kids and their families all throughout town at our studio and in our afterschool programs through the YWCA. We don't want there to be any misunderstandings and I offered my personal apologies to anyone in the (RTC) office and with the (Stefanowski) campaign. I can't imagine how scared they felt.”

Sarah Clark, communications director for the Stefanowski campaign, said the campaign had no comment on the sign incident other than to praise the “speed and professionalism” Greenwich police showed in responding.

Stefanowski is challenging incumbent Democratic governor Ned Lamont, a town resident, in a rematch of their 2018 race.

And as a happy ending to the story, Simon said the karate student passed her test and now has a black belt.