L.A. Street Artist, SABO, Confronted By Secret Service Over Obama Tweets (Video)
L.A. street artist Sabo has been tweaking the liberal left of Hollywood for months, emphasizing his dislike of their politics and their tight connections with the Democratic political elite, such as Hillary Clinton and President Obama.
Some of Sabo’s Hollywood targets have become subjects of his “Obama Drone” campaign, including, but not limited to, Alec Baldwin, Bill Maher and Jon Stewart.
But while his left leaning subjects have tried to ignore him, Sabo’s conservative voice and in-your-face art doesn’t seem subject to silence. At least not yet, and at least not voluntarily.
But apparently Sabo’s statements and street art have gotten under somebody’s skin, since it’s not every day one finds a note on their door from U.S. Secret Service agents (not even Sabo) requesting a little face to face chit-chat regarding “possible ID theft.”
Though he remains an enigma with his identity unknown, this seems to be a necessary component of Sabo’s often clandestine guerilla-style street art as he has otherwise proven not to be a particularly shy or timid man. Thus, Sabo honored the Secret Service request, setting up a meeting with Secret Service agents on Wednesday at his Los Angeles apartment, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Sabo had a camera rolling (video below) as two Secret Service agents greeted him through some windows from what appears to be a side yard. The Secret Service agents explain that they’re there because they are concerned someone may have hacked Sabo’s Twitter account since some recent Sabo tweets were quite inflammatory and potentially threatening to President Obama.
But Sabo tells the agents not to worry, his Twitter account is perfectly secure and it was in fact he, Sabo, who was responsible for the concerning tweets. Not pulling any punches, Sabo carries right on with the agents, seeming to enjoy the conversation that, while breezy and calm on the surface, clearly harbors currents of tension lurking below.
The tweets that allegedly brought the Secret Service knocking on Sabo’s door were posted on SABO’s Unsavoryagents Twitter account, one of them saying, “DEAR GOD! I PRAY YOU MAKE ZOMBIES REAL AND THE FIRST ONE I HOPE REANIMATES IS OSWALD.”
Another alludes to one of Sabo’s early October projects which involved putting up several posters of Gwyneth Paltrow as an “Obama Drone” all around her Brentwood neighborhood in advance of Gwyneth hostessing a Democratic fundraiser featuring President Obama. The tweet that apparently, and again allegedly, raised Secret Service eyebrows at the time said, “It really would be a crying shame if someone called to report a man with a rifle in the area on this night.”
In Sabo’s video, when the agents question Sabo about the, “bringing back Lee Harvey Oswald as a Zombie” tweet, Sabo replies: “How likely is that going to happen?”
Along with admitting to authoring the tweets, Sabo went a bit further, focusing the interview back on the Secret Service gentlemen and the First Amendment.
“I realize we have a f**khead in the White House and the Constitution no longer means s**t, but as far as I’m concerned we still have the First Amendment, correct?” Sabo asks.
While the Secret Service agents don’t deny Sabo his point about the First Amendment, they do let him know that “language that starts advocating violence (is a) grey area the First Amendment doesn’t cover.”
In the end, Sabo stresses that any violence is not his goal, that he’s an artist.
“What kind of art do you do?” asks one of the Secret Service agents.
Sabo, not missing a beat, proceeds to show and explain the toilet seats he’s working on in front of him that feature President Obama in an unflattering way.
With the Secret Service interview complete, Sabo tweeted again.
Whether or not the Secret Service will follow up remains to be seen.
Images via Unsavory Agents and video via YouTube
