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A Halloween display in the front yard of Mobile County Sheriff Paul Burch’s home has set off the predictable outrage machine after it depicted a mock ICE raid — skeletons wearing ICE shirts apparently chasing other skeletons dressed in sombreros and ponchos over a fence. The scene quickly circulated online and drew sharp criticism from neighbors and activists who called it offensive.
Sheriff Burch’s wife, Michelle Alfonso Burch, told local reporters she created the display as a “tongue-in-cheek” decoration, saying she rotates topical themes each year and that her husband had nothing to do with the setup beyond mowing the lawn. She also cited her Cuban heritage and family’s immigrant history while saying she would swap the display out after the backlash.
Of course the local left and national outlets rushed to label the scene “racist” and “dehumanizing,” with community leaders saying the decorations could stoke fear ahead of a planned Latin Fest. That reaction is exactly why conservatives warn about the weaponization of every cultural moment — a harmless if tasteless yard display is instantly turned into moral theater.
Not everyone thought the decoration was a scandal; residents defended the Burch family’s right to decorate their private property and pointed out the double standard when law enforcement is attacked in the press while being vilified on social issues. Free speech and property rights matter, and Americans who live here should be allowed some levity without being smeared.
The timing of the uproar is telling: it comes days after video surfaced of a Mobile County deputy striking a man during an immigration enforcement operation, an incident Sheriff Burch publicly defended as a response to resistance during an arrest. That sequence of events is being used to paint an entire office as hostile, rather than reporting the full context of law enforcement doing a difficult job enforcing the law.
Let’s be blunt: this is about more than Halloween props. It’s about an increasingly permissive culture that refuses to defend border security and law enforcement, then castigates anyone who voices support for enforcing immigration laws. Conservatives should call out the hypocrisy — elected officials and their families shouldn’t be canceled for backing common-sense enforcement while critics ignore the breakdown of the border and the lawlessness it breeds.
Americans who believe in the rule of law and free expression need to push back against the outrage industry that turns every private whim into a national controversy. If the community finds the display offensive, the family said they’ll change it — that should end the matter. The real focus should be on securing the border, supporting honest policing, and stopping the media and agitators from turning every backyard decoration into a political witch hunt.
