Germana surprised by sign's attention

SANDPOINT - A Bonner County man has attracted national media attention for a sign which advocated a "free public hanging" of President-elect Barack Obama and other high-profile Democrats.

"I think it's a big to-do over nothing," Ken Germana said after greeting a throng of television reporters and even agents from the U.S. Secret Service at his property in Vay on Thursday.

Since the story was originally published in The Daily Bee on Wednesday, more than 100 newspapers throughout the country and Canada have picked it up, much to Germana's amazement.

"The media has made it into a three-ring circus," he said.

Germana declined to discuss his conversation with the Secret Service officials, but said he believes they do not consider him a legitimate threat to Obama or the other Democrats listed on his sign.

Kevin Miller, a Secret Service agent in Spokane, Wash., referred media inquiries to the agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C. Agents there were not immediately available for comment late Thursday.

Germana said he hasn't decided whether to take down the sign anytime soon, although he has removed a noose which had been affixed to it.

The sign has been met with outrage from the Bonner County Human Rights Task Force, which objected to the sign's message and tone.

Some have also accused Germana of being racist, a charge which he rejects.

"I'm not a racist. You've got bad and good in white, black, blue and green," he said.