A North Carolina gun shop billboard comparing 'The Squad' to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse has been denounced as an incitement to violence
- A North Carolina gun store has been accused of inciting violence over a billboard advert comparin "The Squad" to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
- The advert on a roadside just outside the town of Murphy features pictures of Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Rashida Tlaib.
- The billboard reads "The 4 Horsemen Cometh," with the word "Cometh" crossed out and replaced with "are idiots."
- In tweets, some of the congresswomen have denounced the advert, with Rep. Tlaib writing "how the hell is this not inciting violence?"
- Gun shop owner Doc Wacholz has defended the advert, remarking in an interview with the local Citizen-Times: "I'm not inciting any violence or being racist. It's a statement. It's an opinion."
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A North Carolina gun shop owner has defended his roadside billboard advert suggesting four progressive congresswomen of color who in recent weeks have been singled out for attacks by President Trump are agents of apocalypse.
"The 4 Horsemen Cometh," reads the sign, with the word "Cometh" crossed out and replaced with "are idiots."
The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse are allegorical figures from the Bible representing world-ending forces of destruction: Death, famine, war, and conquest.
The billboard features pictures of Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
It reads: "Signed, the deplorables."
This is reference to a speech given by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016, who said that half of Trump's support was made up of people who were "racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic - Islamophobic" whom she labelled a "basket of deplorables."
Read more: GOP advisers reportedly told Trump his racist attacks on Democratic congresswomen may have backfired
The label has since been adopted as a badge of pride by some backers of the president.
The four congresswomen - nicknamed The Squad - have in recent weeks come under relentless attack by Trump.
In a racist tweet in July, President Trump told the four congresswomen - who are all US citizens - to "go back" to their "corrupt" and "broken and crime infested" countries.
Three of the representatives were born in the United States, and Rep. Omar is a Somalian refugee who took US citizenship.
Earlier in July, House Democrats requested enhanced security for the four following a wave of verbal attacks by Trump and his supporters. Rep. Omar - a Muslim - saw a surge in death threats against her after Trump in April shared a video on Twitter in which her remarks were edited with clips of the 9/11 attacks.
After the billboard went up over the weekend, about a mile away from Cherokee Guns in Murphy, gun control advocacy group the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence denounced it as an incitement to violence.
"Disgusting anti-government violent rhetoric from Cherokee Guns in North Carolina," wrote the group in a posting on its Facebook page.
"Threats against members of Congress, particularly minority members are [rising] and it is driven by the president's racial rhetoric. This is dangerous!!!"
Some of the congresswomen depicted in the billboard have also spoken out against it, with Rep. Pressley calling on North Carolina Rep. Marl Meadows to take action.
But in an interview with local paper the Citizen-Times, gun shop owner Doc Wacholz defended the billboard.
"I'm not inciting any violence or being racist," he said. "It's a statement. It's an opinion."
"They're socialists, from my point of view. I also feel a couple of them, being Muslim, have ties to actual terrorist groups," he said. Trump has previously groundlessly claimed the representatives support terror groups.
In Facebook posts, the shop has stuck by the advert.
"Alright my fellow Infidels for Trump...due to OVERWHELMING demand...you may come by the shop (next week) and get your very own FOUR HORSEMEN COMETH STICKER...simple...eat a piece of bacon...tell us you're voting for Trump in 2020...then get your limited edition bumper sticker!! (While supplies last!) Snowflakes and Liberals are not eligible...sorry...," read a Monday posting.
Cherokee Guns did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.