Robin Gibson

The (Muncie, Ind.) Star Press

MUNCIE, Ind. — Amid a tense atmosphere nationwide over report after report of police-action shootings and police officers being shot, it only took a billboard to set off an online controversy in east-central Indiana.

A billboard reading "Hate cops? The next time you need help call a crackhead" was visible for at least a few hours Saturday on an electronic billboard near the intersection of Wheeling and Riverside avenues here. Megan Thomas said she noticed it around 1 p.m. ET Saturday while walking with her niece along the Riverwalk.

She was offended not just by what she called a message that was "vulgar, discriminatory to many different classes of people in our city," but also by the fact that it appeared to have gone up right before the start of a planned demonstration against police brutality, just a few blocks away.

"I was very ashamed that something so dividing was present in Muncie," Thomas said Sunday.

Her Facebook post of a photo of the billboard, along with a question about whether tax dollars had paid for the sign and contact information for the billboard company, prompted a flurry of responses, positive and negative, and — as of Monday afternoon — more than 1,000 shares. Thomas said she drove past the sign around 5 p.m. Saturday, and saw by that time the "Hate cops?..." item was no longer in the billboard's rotation.

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As of Sunday morning, the billboard featured just a series of ads for car dealerships, a local restaurant, the city bus system and Hometown Outdoor Advertising, the company that owns the electronic billboard.

By Monday afternoon, a few more ads had joined the rotation, one reading "Love, Respect, Support Law Enforcement," and the other "Love, Support, Support Law Enforcement."

Chris Johnson, general manager of Muncie Liquors, said he heard about the original sign Saturday when a clerk at the Wheeling, Ind., store phoned him about someone coming in to complain about the sign. Noting that Muncie Liquors doesn't own or operate the billboard, just rents space for it in its parking lot, Johnson said his employees had called the billboard company to say they were hearing complaints about the sign and were told it would be taken down immediately and reworded.

Johnson said he was concerned about online criticism unfairly aimed at Muncie Liquors by people who mistakenly believed the sign belonged to the store but said he believed by Monday word was out that the liquor store was not connected to the controversial sign.

“This is not us; this is not our mentality; this is not how we feel," he said. He expected to be deluged with calls or complaints Monday, but only heard from The (Muncie, Ind.) Star Press.

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Thomas questioned who had paid for the original sign, particularly whether it might have been paid for with tax dollars.

The Muncie police chief's office and Hometown Outdoor Advertising did not respond to requests for comment.

On Saturday night, Muncie Police Sgt. Chris Kirby posted a defense on Facebook of Muncie Liquors, noting the business "had absolutely nothing to do" with the sign. He also wrote that the city, the police department and the Fraternal Order of Police weren't connected to the sign.

An online search shows the "Hate cops?..." slogan is widely available on T-shirts.

Follow Robin Gibson on Twitter: @RobinGibsonTSP