'Vote Donald Trump' Flashes on Hacked SoCal Freeway Sign

CORONA, CA- State investigators Monday were trying to figure out how a freeway message sign in Corona was reprogrammed to display a “Vote Donald Trump” slogan and who might be responsible.

“We don’t have anything yet, nothing to go on,” California Highway Patrol Officer Marcelo Llerena told City News Service.

Llerena said an investigation into the Christmas Day hacking episode was slow to get going because of the holiday downtime.

“I only heard about it today,” the Inland Division-based officer said.

According to the Riverside County Transportation Commission, the electronic message sign on northbound Interstate 15, between El Cerrito and Ontario avenues, was tampered with sometime Friday.

Instead of flashing a message regarding a detour tied to work on the 91 Freeway Project Fast Forward, the sign was altered to read: “Inland Empire Supports Donald Trump. Merry Xmas. Vote Donald Trump.”

“91 project crews were not working on Christmas ... enjoying well- deserved time with their families,” said RCTC Deputy Director John Standiford. “The political message was replaced on December 26th, when the crews came back to work.

“Changeable message signs are critical for traffic safety and communication within the construction zone,” he added. “Enhanced security measures will be implemented to protect the signs and the project from additional vandalism.”

A couple heading home from an outing Christmas night saw the message and stopped to videotape it. The clip had received more than 457,000 views as of Monday afternoon and been reposted by multiple people on Facebook.

Llerena said there’s a freeway traffic camera at Ontario and the 15, but ‘it doesn’t record anything” and is mainly intended to enable Caltrans to monitor traffic volume in the area.

– By City News Service.