CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – Racist messages posted on two private electronic message boards in Oakleaf Plantation were removed early Thursday morning by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
The company that owns the signs told News4Jax someone broke into their computers overnight to change the signs from advertising free COVID testing to racial slurs.
The Sheriff’s Office posted Thursday on Facebook saying they were notified about the vandalized boards and when they investigated they found the signs with hateful messages that included racial slurs.
One of those signs is visible to drivers and sits on Plantation Oaks Boulevard between Oakleaf High School and Oakleaf Junior High School. The other sign was in a parking lot of Oakleaf Community Park about a quarter-mile from the first sign, deputies said.
The Sheriff’s Office said it became aware of the situation after a 911 call.
Deputies who responded disabled the electronic signs and are still investigating who posted the messages.
It’s believed someone broke into an unlocked and vulnerable computer to reprogram the signs, which have been used to advertise free coronavirus testing for the last three weeks.
United Rentals, which leased out the signs, told News4Jax they were left overnight with the computer that programs the sign’s message unlocked and a marker used to write the computer’s password in a visible place. That’s all it took for someone to reprogram the signs with racial slurs.
Chris Hamer, a cyber security expert, said the signs are deliberately made to be easily reprogrammable.
“The road signs are very simple computers, limited page memory because you don’t need a crew working on the side of the road having to go through a long complicated programming procedure or have specialized hardware or anything else,” Hamer said.
A United Rentals spokesperson said by phone they “Obviously would not ever condone the message put there” and the company leasing them has secured the computers so no one else can reprogram the sign’s message.
“To me it’s pointless. What’s the point? What’s the motive? What do people get out of it other than hurting people’s feelings?” Oakleaf resident Kierston Johnson said.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office said anyone with information about who was involved is asked to call 904-264-6512.