A billboard that could be seen by motorists entering the Bay Bridge toll plaza in Oakland Monday was taken down, the group that paid for it said Tuesday. Bob Redell reports.
A billboard that could be seen by motorists entering the Bay Bridge toll plaza in Oakland Monday is set to be taken down effective immediately, the group that paid for it said Tuesday, but the billboard could still be seen Wednesday morning.
The east-facing billboard displays a photo of President Donald Trump with the word "Impeach" next to his face.
The billboard went up Monday and was scheduled to remain up until Sunday. Following Tuesday's announcement, it is not yet clear when the billboard will actually be pulled.
According to the California-based Courage Campaign, which paid for the billboard, Outfront Media, the company that owns the space, decided to take it down because of complaints.
Outfront Media could not immediately be reached for comment.
Courage Campaign executive director Eddie Kurtz said, "I just think it's outrageous that they did this," adding that it makes no sense.
Kurtz said taking down the billboard will unfortunately squash any debate over what he called a critical issue.
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Kurtz's group received an email from Outfront Media that said, "We have taken down your billboard due to multiple complaints."
The Courage Campaign is a group of about 1.4 million members who are working for a more progressive California, according to the group's website.
Members of the group each paid $17 for the billboard, Kurtz said.
President Trump could be impeached if he is convicted for treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors, according to the U.S. Constitution.
Kurtz said the president has used his office to benefit himself and his family financially and obstructed justice, among other offenses. He said his group thinks there is a legal and moral case for impeaching the president.
The billboard was mainly part of the Courage Campaign's effort to mobilize voters on moral grounds since impeachment is a political process and politics is based on the will of the people, Kurtz said.
Courage Campaign officials were considering leaving the billboard up longer if traffic on the website DemandImpeachmentNow.com, which was also on the billboard, led them to believe it would be worth it.
The Courage Campaign in August launched a petition to impeach Trump. So far 90,000 people have signed it.
The petition can be found here.
