OxfordPress.com

FAIRFIELD — City and school district leaders have "condemned" the actions of a Fairfield resident who last week displayed a ghost with Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama's name on it — hanging from a tree by a noose.

Mike Lunsford said he hung the ghost in his front yard as a Halloween decoration and later decided to write "Hussain" in green marker on it. Obama's middle name is Hussein. Lunsford also attached part of a campaign yard sign with Obama's last name to his ghost decoration.

Fairfield police received calls from neighbors and passersby but decided Lunsford had not committed any crime.

Fairfield Police Chief Mike Dickey said that — after a Secret Service investigation — it was determined there was no threat to a presidential candidate. The display also is protected under the First Amendment right to freedom of speech, he said.

However, the city's mayor, city council and Fairfield school district leaders decided to speak out against Lunsford's display.

In an e-mail on Monday, Oct. 20, school district Superintendent Cathy Milligan and Fairfield school board President Mark Morris wrote, "Standing up against racism makes Fairfield a better place for our employees to work and for our students to learn and grow."

Mayor Ron D'Epifanio, along with city council members, wanted people to know they do not agree with Lunsford's display. In a statement issued on Monday, the mayor and city council members said: "This individual's isolated opinion, as depicted in a yard display, does not represent the values of our community."

Lunsford said racism had nothing to do with his decision to transform his holiday decoration.

He said the idea came from a news story he saw on Tuesday, Oct. 14, about a display in Odessa, N.Y. that depicted Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain dressed in Ku Klux Klan sheets chasing Obama.

"I just disagree with his views," Lunsford said of Obama. "I am a white man and I want to see a Christian that supports my values (as president)."

He believes Obama is for gay marriage and abortion. According to Obama's Web site, however, the senator does not support gay marriage but does support civil unions for gay couples. Obama supports Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding a woman's right to choose and, like Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, Obama supports abortion in certain circumstances. The story about Lunsford's display first appeared on Local 12 WKRC-TV in Cincinnati on Thursday, Oct. 16, and national media stories quickly followed. Because of that attention, Lunsford said he moved the ghost and its noose from the tree to a chair next to his porch on Friday. Someone stole the "Obama" sign from his display since then, Lunsford said.

Lunsford's display has caused problems for another Mike Lunsford, who lives in Hamilton.

After the recent news stories, Hamilton's Lunsford said he started to receive harassing phone calls at home and visits at work by people who believe he's responsible for the ghost decoration in Fairfield. One of the calls came from a woman in Missouri.

"I don't support it all," the Hamilton man said. "I'm scared for my family or myself. I'm afraid somebody might hurt me, and find out where I live."

Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5112 or mpitman@coxohio.com.