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Political Tensions Turn Violent in North Carolina Trump Sign Dispute

In a troubling incident that highlights America’s growing political divide, Mark Thomas of North Carolina recently found himself in a dangerous confrontation after a stranger attempted to remove a Trump banner from his property. On September 6, Thomas was relaxing at home when his security cameras captured a masked man, later identified as 38-year-old Benjamin Michael Campbell, stopping his Jeep Cherokee near Thomas’s mother’s home. Campbell, allegedly wearing what Thomas described as an “Antifa-style mask,” approached a bus displaying a Trump banner in the yard of Thomas’s 87-year-old mother. What began as property vandalism quickly escalated into a frightening exchange of gunfire that left Thomas shaken and reflecting on the state of political discourse in America.

When Thomas noticed the trespasser on his security cameras, he grabbed his rifle and stepped onto his porch, firing two warning shots into the air. According to Thomas, Campbell responded by returning to his vehicle and firing through the sunroof before briefly fleeing the scene. In a particularly alarming turn, Campbell allegedly returned moments later to fire several more shots, one of which struck a refrigerator inside the home. Thomas, who owns a river rafting business in the Nantahala Gorge, initially hesitated to call police after the first exchange but changed his mind following Campbell’s return. The Atlanta-based accountant fled before authorities arrived but was arrested on September 30 and extradited to North Carolina, where he now faces multiple serious charges including felony assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or inflict serious injury.

What struck Thomas most about the encounter was learning the identity of his attacker. “Some of these people, they just see a Trump sign, and they just snap,” Thomas told Fox News Digital. “The whole time I’m thinking, ‘This is some 20-year-old kid, and he’s going to figure it out eventually.'” Instead, he discovered his assailant was a professional accountant in his late thirties. “I came to find out this guy is 38 years old and an accountant out here in a full Antifa outfit,” Thomas remarked with evident surprise. This revelation seemed to underscore his concern about how political divisions are affecting Americans across all demographics and professions, not just impulsive youth as he had initially assumed.

The timing of the incident gained additional significance for Thomas as it occurred just four days before the assassination attempt on conservative activist Charlie Kirk, an event that Thomas believes “really woke people up” to the reality of political violence in America. Thomas expressed his view that some Democratic officials have publicly encouraged hostility toward conservatives, further deepening the nation’s political divides. Despite the frightening nature of the confrontation, Thomas emphasized that he had no intention of seriously harming Campbell during their encounter, noting with a mix of relief and concern that “the only thing that saved his life was the fact that he couldn’t shoot that well.”

Thomas’s property contained several additional Trump signs that Campbell never saw, leading Thomas to remark that Campbell’s “head would have just completely exploded” had he noticed them. This observation points to the intensity of emotion that political symbols now evoke in American society—where campaign signs and banners that were once relatively benign expressions of political preference can now trigger dangerous confrontations between strangers. Thomas’s mother, at 87 years old, now finds herself inadvertently at the center of this political hostility simply for displaying support for her preferred candidate on her own property.

In a surprising twist that speaks to his desire for understanding rather than vengeance, Thomas expressed interest in someday speaking directly with Campbell to comprehend what drove him to such extreme action. “I’d really like to talk to that guy and find out what’s in his head,” Thomas said. “I’d like him to look at the video and see me standing on my porch and realize how close he came to losing his life over a banner.” Thomas even mentioned considering putting money on Campbell’s jail account to facilitate a conversation—a remarkable gesture considering the circumstances. This desire for dialogue rather than further conflict perhaps offers a small glimmer of hope amid an incident that otherwise exemplifies the dangerous polarization gripping American communities as another contentious election season unfolds.

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