City of Tulsa employees doing the routine work of clearing illegally placed political campaign signs from public property got an unwelcome surprise this week: several of the signs had been booby-trapped with razor blades hidden in multiple spots. The Tulsa Police Department issued a public warning after the discovery, and officials say no one was hurt.
According to okcfox.com, the employees were collecting signs placed in areas where they are prohibited when they noticed something was wrong. As they handled the signs, workers realized the materials had been deliberately rigged, with blades tucked into the signage itself rather than left out in the open. The outlet reported plainly that no City of Tulsa employees were injured in the discovery.
Blades Hidden in Several Spots, Police Say
The danger wasn't confined to a single blade on a single sign. Per news9.com, razor blades had been concealed in multiple places on the signs, meaning anyone picking one up without knowing to check for them could have been cut. The same report quotes the Tulsa Police Department describing the act in blunt terms: booby-trapping the signs is not only extremely dangerous but also illegal.
That combination of hidden hazard and casual handling is what makes the discovery so alarming to city officials. Workers tasked with sign removal typically don't expect to need protective gear for cardboard and corrugated plastic, and the incident underscores how a routine cleanup task turned into a safety risk nobody saw coming until it was too late to avoid entirely.
Tulsa's Rules on Where Signs Can Go
The signs in question were removed because they violated Tulsa's own placement rules in the first place. The city flatly prohibits campaign signs on public property, allowing them on private property only with the property owner's consent, according to the City of Tulsa. City rules also cap campaign signs at 16 square feet in residential and office zoning districts and require that all such signs come down no later than seven days after the relevant voting event.
Tulsa's municipal government treats privately owned signs placed in or near public streets, sidewalks, and rights-of-way without permission as litter and abandoned property, which the city says it may summarily remove. Residents who spot unlawful signs in those areas are directed to report them online through Tulsa311 or by calling 311 during regular business hours.
Not the First Time Signs Have Been Weaponized
Tulsa's case isn't an isolated phenomenon nationally. In Commerce Township, Michigan, a 52-year-old municipal employee needed 13 stitches after slicing three fingers on razor blades attached to the bottom of a Trump 2020 campaign yard sign, according to NBC News. That sign had been placed in violation of a local ordinance requiring campaign signs to sit at least 33 feet from the center of roadways, and both signs removed from the site had several blades taped along their bottom edges. The Oakland County Sheriff's Office investigated that incident, and township officials considered pursuing legal action.
Tulsa authorities have not said whether they are pursuing a similar investigation into who rigged the signs found this week, and the city has not identified which campaign or candidate the signs were associated with. For now, the warning from police stands as a caution to anyone who might come across a stray campaign sign on public land: handle with care, and consider reporting it rather than removing it by hand.
