SAN FRANCISCO — Billboards are popping up in both LA and San Francisco warning Californian residents against moving to Texas by invoking the Uvalde school shooting.
The billboards, one located near the corner of Folsom and 7th Street, have a sinister image of a hooded man wearing sunglasses with children seen reflecting out of them. Alongside the image, the billboard reads:
"The Texas Miracle Died in Uvalde. Don't Move to Texas."
The quintessentially Texan slogan of "Don't Mess With Texas", which originates from the statewide anti-littering campaign started in 1985 by the Texas Department of Transportation, was crossed out with a large red "X" in the top-right corner of the billboard.
The images were originally taken by Charles Russo, where the story originally was reported for the SFGATE.
The ad is referencing the Uvalde school shooting, wherein 19 children and two adults were murdered at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on May 24. The 18-year-old shooter was able to gain access to the school and law enforcement responders took 77 minutes to neutralize the threat.
"The Texas Miracle" is a reference to a term coined by former Texas Governor Rick Perry in 2011. The term is used to describe the state's regulatory, economic and political systems that allow the state to continue in a state of growth as the years progress.
The phrase has predominately been used to referenced to how Texas saw a jump in job growth after the Great Recession of 2008 while the majority of the union did not.
Many versions of the billboards have been placed into discussion websites, like Reddit, where Californian residents are trying to decipher the very Texan-isms and what the intent of the billboards are.
It is currently unknown who is behind the creation of the billboards throughout the cities, but they are leased to advertisers by FoxPoint Media in San Francisco.