SPOKANE, Wash — In the lead-up to the 2024 general election, signs in support of candidates and propositions popped up all over the city of Spokane.
That includes the Audobon-Downriver neighborhood, where mom Kara lives. Seeing the signs is something she appreciates.
“That's what an election season is,” said Kara. “People coming forward to show what they believe in and drum up support from their community for those candidates and that's a great thing.”
However, Kara recently saw a different side to that political pride. It began when her sign in support of Vice President Kamala Harris disappeared last month while the family was on vacation.
Kara said she anticipated the sign potentially getting stolen: “I was disappointed, but I wasn't surprised.”
What did surprise her appeared days later: A letter mailed to her husband with no return address.
Opening it, she found it started with, “Dear white dude for Kamala."
“It explained to us that they stole our sign because they wanted us to know what censorship feels like, to have your First Amendment rights taken away,” she said.
The letter baffled Kara and her husband. It also left them concerned: "It has my husband's name on it, which means either they know us, which I don't think they do, or they looked us up, you know, which is a level beyond just coming by and stealing a sign that makes you angry.”
Kara said she's filed a police report about the alleged theft and the letter. She also put up two brand-new signs.
"Having a sign up that represents my values is a great freedom that we have here in America and I wholeheartedly believe in people's abilities to put those signs out,” she said.
Election Day is Nov. 5.
Note: KREM 2 has chosen not to share Kara’s last name to try to prevent further issues for her and her family.