A Republican-owned East Valley printing shop is locked in a dispute with a right-wing extremist student group after the shop refused to print signs that called on people to "Protect White Americans."
A leader of the group College Republicans United ordered about 16 of the signs from Mesa Sign Shop, a widely used vendor for political campaigns, according to an invoice.
The signs would have displayed an image of a man and woman cradling a baby on 4-by-8-foot posterboard. All three people pictured in the design appeared to be white.
Mesa Sign Shop "reneged" on printing the design, according to Kevin Decuyper of College Republicans United.
Decuyper has previously attracted local media attention for ethno-nationalist comments he made online. His past remarks included disparaging "the J's" and musing about how to carry out "the final solution," the Nazi policy to exterminate Jewish people, in a "clean and effective" way. He has distanced himself from the remarks in subsequent media interviews. He is an aide to former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, 94.
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"You know what? Sue me," said Jim Torgeson, owner of Mesa Sign Shop.
Decuyper declined to comment for this story in a text message and did not respond to follow-up questions.
Torgeson, a sitting Gilbert Town Council member who lost his reelection race in July, told The Arizona Republic that Decuyper is a "known troublemaker" in Republican circles. Torgeson said Decuyper rushed to submit a payment for the order and sent him the design after paying.
"I'm not gonna be part of something that is meant to divide and incite people," Torgeson said. "This is hate speech. It's very thinly veiled. And I don't want anything to do with it."
The signs were ordered by Republicans United LLC, a Chandler-based entity, according to an invoice. Decuyper is listed as a principal of the group on its incorporation paperwork, records show.
Republicans United is a national organization with chapters across the country. Its website promotes texts that helped fuel anti-Jewish sentiment in the early 20th century, including Henry Ford’s "The International Jew" and "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion," a fabricated text that purports to document a Jewish plan to dominate the world.
Jim Torgeson, owner of Mesa Sign Shop and a Gilbert council member who lost his reelection bid, has refused to print signs that say 'Protect White Americans,' calling the order from the group College Republicans United divisive and hateful.
Its website also states that the group supports candidates who are "America First," back mass deportations, and "have no foreign loyalty," warning readers: "A candidate with an 'R' next to their name does not automatically uphold Republican principles."
Decuyper helped found the Arizona State University chapter.
Allies of the group have publicly targeted Mesa Sign Shop over Torgeson's refusal to print the signs.
In a Google review, the group criticized Mesa Sign Shop for doing business with a transgender candidate who ran for mayor of Fountain Hills, while refusing to print its signs.
"Bizarre politics at work here. No integrity," the group wrote, according to a screenshot.
"If you don't see that your art would put people in danger, then I'm sorry," the Mesa Sign Shop account responded, adding the Fountain Hills candidate "had no hate on her signs."
A Facebook account connected to Arpaio appears to have amplified the criticism. The former sheriff's official account, which has more than 600,000 followers, wrote Sept. 30 that it was "sad to see this shop's conduct with their customers."
Another Google account under the name Sheriff Joe Arpaio left a scathing review in October.
"Stay FAR away from Mesa Sign Shop. You will get burned by ordering from them," the review reads. "Also, I don't appreciate the owner's hostility and dehumanizing language against me."
In a phone call with The Republic, Arpaio expressed confusion and said he was "not making any comments" before hanging up.
In an interview, Torgeson said the review from Arpaio was from a "fake account." Online, his company called the Google user a "bot."
"He is weaponizing things like Yelp and Google to harm a small business and to intimidate me," Torgeson said of Decuyper.
Torgeson said he rarely turns down business. Earlier this year, he refused to print signs that would have made a crass reference to a transgender candidate's genitalia, he said.
A person's gender is "none of my business," and the candidate deserves "basic decency," he said. "I don't want to be the guy who feels guilty because somebody decided to beat her up behind a bar somewhere."
Torgeson said the backlash from College Republicans United pales in comparison with what he might have received if he had printed the signs.
"I'm not gonna say I'm surrounded by Black people every day. For God's sakes, I live in Gilbert," he said. But "I don't judge people by race, creed, color, sex, nothing."
"There's no winner when somebody's trying to incite division," he said. "I don't care what side of the aisle you're on."
