Woman slashes Trump sign with knife, says it 'ruined her chill'

Deputies say Elizabeth McSurdy threatened Fla. Keys business owners with knife

Elizabeth McSurdy, 30, of Oakland, California, was arrested after she slashed a President Donald Trump vinyl sign with a knife and threatened the owners of a Florida Keys business, deputies say.

BIG PINE KEY, Fla. – A California woman was arrested Friday in the Florida Keys after she slashed a President Donald Trump sign, telling deputies she did it because the sign "ruined her chill," Monroe County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Becky Herrin said.

Elizabeth McSurdy, 30, of Oakland, California, faces charges of criminal mischief and aggravated assault stemming from the incident at R&T Vinyl Signs in Big Pine Key.

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The owners of the business told deputies that a woman had slashed their vinyl Trump sign and threatened them while holding a knife in her hand. One of the men took a picture of her vehicle as she leaving, traveling south on U.S. Highway 1.

Herrin said a deputy spotted the vehicle and pulled it over. Herrin said the driver, later identified as McSurdy, at first denied slashing the signs and threatening the men, but McSurdy confessed after she was confronted with the photograph and the victim identified her as the suspect.

Herrin said that McSurdy denied threatening the men, but she said she was holding a knife during the confrontation.

Herrin said the knife was found in the vehicle's glove compartment.


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Peter Burke returned for a second stint of duty at Local 10 News in February 2014.