West Hollywood residents try to cover up neighbor's Sarah Palin effigy
Three people set up sheets to try to block passing motorists from viewing the effigy, part of a Halloween display.
Neighbors of a West Hollywood resident who hung an effigy of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin from a noose in front of his house tried to cover up the display this morning in protest, authorities said.
Three neighbors went to the home on North Orange Grove with the Halloween display and held up sheets to try to block its view from passing motorists, said Steve Whitmore, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. He emphasized that it was a peaceful and lawful protest.
ChadMichael Morrisette, a professional window display designer, said he set up the life-size mannequin of Palin in front of his house three weeks ago. He said he wanted to insert politics into his Halloween decorating since the holiday comes four days before the presidential election.
But then a news report on the display this week sparked a national uproar, drawing the attention of the Secret Service, upsetting politicians, including one local official who called for a hate crime investigation, and prompting MSNBC television host Keith Olbermann on Monday to dub Morrisette "today's worst person in the world."
"This is not the spirit of Halloween, sir," Olbermann said. "It is the spirit of violence."
Offensive as it may be, the Palin doll -- outfitted with beehive wig, glasses and a vintage Neiman Marcus red coat dress -- appears to violate no law, said officials of the Secret Service, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the West Hollywood city code enforcement division.
"The sheriff made this clear: This is a country that has freedom of speech, and we protect that right even when we think it's idiotic and stupid and in bad taste," Whitmore said. "If it is nonviolent and doesn't cause any problems, then they have the right to do it."
Morrisette and his partner, Mito Aviles, both 28, defended the display.
"If it's a political statement, it's that their politics is scary to us," Morrisette said of the McCain-Palin campaign. "This is our palette and this is our venue of expression."
At first, most of their neighbors either chuckled or applauded the display, Morrisette and Aviles said.
But since it has attracted more media attention, some residents have become concerned that the effigy has cast their community in a bad light, they said.
"We don't want to make enemies with anyone," Aviles said. "This isn't what it was supposed to be about."
