East Peoria Commissioner Mike Sutherland said he's offering a "personal bounty" of $200 to people who report political sign vandalism or theft in the city to the police.Sutherland said he's willing to pay out the money for up to six convictions.
"A lot of men and women have died for our right of free speech in this country," Sutherland said. "And by God, I'm going to use it and I'm going to protect it. And if it's 200 bucks, it's 200 bucks."
Sutherland said he's offering the money in his capacity as a private citizen, not as a city commissioner. He said he'll pay out his personal bounty for signs vandalized or stolen, regardless of political party.
Much of the vandalism in East Peoria is targeted at President Donald Trump's signs.
A pro-Trump banner on Highview Road has been replaced several times after vandals ripped it, and a prominent Trump sign at the intersection of East Washington and Springfield Road was recently spray-painted with the word "sucks" under Trump's name.
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