Billboard Tells Liberals To Keep Driving Until They Leave Texas

VEGA, TX — A billboard installed on Interstate 40 in western Texas has a clear message for any "liberals" who happen to be driving by: keep going until you leave the Lone Star State. Kyle Mccallie, of Fritch, posted a photo of the incendiary signage Tuesday on Facebook. The caption: "Billboard 6 miles east of Vega on I-40 east bound! I like it!"

The large green billboard reads:"Liberals Please continue on I-40 until you have left the GREAT STATE OF TEXAS."

Vega is located about 30 miles west of Amarillo, Texas, in Oldham County. It has about 920 people, according to the latest U.S. Census estimates.

Mccallie told Patch in a Facebook message Wednesday he doesn't know who put the sign up, but he thinks it "speaks for itself."

"If someone is offended by it then maybe they should follow the directions," he said.

Mccallie later added that he posted the picture with no intention of it "going viral." He said he doesn't own the billboard or the land it’s on.

"I posted it because I liked it and got a good laugh just like thousands of people have," he said.

The post has been shared more than 14,000 times and garnered more than 500 comments, mostly from people who support of the sign, and some of which used more colorful language than others.

"Awesome; just keep going West," commented user Michelle Bernard.

"Born and raised in Texas love this sign!! There's a lot if people that feel this way more than you can imagine they will not say anything they just vote that's when you know they are out there," said fellow commenter Leslie Morris.

Randy Burkett, who owns the company that owns the billboard, told Patch the sign was installed Tuesday around 10 a.m. Since then, it's caused a "real mess," even attracting enough visitors to cause his website to crash.

"It was like a grassfire," he said. "We've had Breitbart, CNN, everybody is calling about it."

The client who leased the billboard has "graciously" agreed to have it taken down and leased to someone else, Burkett said. The sign will come down Wednesday. Burkett noted its against company policy to identify his clients and he usually honors the First Amendment right to free speech.

But this particular sign went too far, he said.

"I told him this thing is really divisive and it's not really sending the right message. It's just causing problems," said Burkett.

Burkett also doesn't particularly care for the sign.

"I don't think it was a very good way to get a point across, he said. "I think it was almost meant to stir things up and that doesn't do anybody any good. It just gets everybody name-calling and everything else."

Mccallie knows this all too well.

Since posting the photo, he has received Facebook messages — verified by Patch — calling him racist, sexist and homophobic. Others contained threats of violence or death, with one person even threatening to visit his home and snap his neck. Mccallie said he's received 10 threats of violence since 5 a.m. Wednesday.

But he's not too concerned. Texans "own plenty of firearms and self defense material to handle our own."

He also hasn't alerted authorities.

"The law enforcement didn’t post it or tell me to so why would I drag them into the drama it’s causing me," said Mccallie.

Patch has reached out to the Texas Democratic Party and the Republican Party of Texas for comment and will update when we hear back.

Photos credit: Shutterstock / Nick Fox; Kyle Mccallie, used with permission