MESA, AZ — Jewish families hailing from the East Valley can catch a unique piece of encouragement as they drive along State Route 202 in Mesa.
A small nonprofit called Legalize Freedom owns a billboard site off Alma School Road. The current billboard, which stands about 50 feet tall, reads, "Standing against anti-Semitism is standing with America.” Messages on the billboard have rotated. The billboard formerly read: “God, Country, Trump."
Chuck Urban operates his Legalize Freedom effort from New Jersey, but he has spent time living in the Valley.
Urban is a practicing Catholic, but he says he has grown weary of seeing Jewish families in the United States turned into targets. He wants these billboards to be a source of encouragement.
"It’s basically a bellwether for saying — this is wrong. Knock it off," Urban said. "It’s not right to ever single out any group, and I believe right now through the failure of our educational system, to be honest, to convey what America is about. They have made the ability to be safe in certain aspects for Jewish people. I don’t think that’s right.”
When the state of Arizona built Route 202, eminent domain was used to claim some property.
This included the landfill Urban's family operated on Alma School Road after moving to the U.S. from Hungary. Urban says the land and the billboard are part of a settlement he received.
An Arizona Department of Transportation spokesperson confirmed the agency has filed a lawsuit against Urban. Urban says the lawsuit is because of his messages, but ADOT says it is actually about the billboard's location.
"You can change that to any group you want to — any ethnicity or any group — and if you don’t stand up for those people, you’re shorting America," Urban said.
Rabbi Laibel Blotner leads Chabad of Mesa, the only Jewish house of worship for a city of more than 500,000 people.
"There's not that much Jewish presence here," Blotner said. "To see that in Mesa gives us a lot of pride. It’s encouraging. I think the message is important. I think the awareness, in and of itself, is a method of combatting antisemitism.”
Urban said he believes he will leave the billboard as it stands for a few months, but the message may change closer to election time.
Disclaimer: This digital article was converted from a broadcast script using AI technology.
