Vandals hack Seattle road sign to display call for impeachment

Instead of a routine road-work message, commuters in North Seattle passed a pair of electronic signs Wednesday morning that read “IMPEACH THE BASTARD,” an apparent reference to the impeachment investigation initiated against President Donald Trump.

The portable signs, along 35th Avenue Northeast, near Calvary Cemetery and the University of Washington, are owned by Seattle-based National Barricade, and being used by the Seattle Department of Transportation. One faces northbound, one southbound.

The signs were hacked by vandals who pried or cut into them to reach a keyboard to change the message, said National Barricade service manager June Hatfield, who said the signs come standard with built-in locks. She said the message was up for two hours, and an executive went out to reprogram it shortly before 11 a.m., after neighbors contacted the company.

Traffic Lab is a Seattle Times project that digs into the region’s transportation issues to explore the policies and politics that determine how we get around and how billions of dollars in public money are spent.

SDOT was renting the signs, which alert drivers to a weekend paving project and intersection closure four blocks east.

Some drivers pulled over to photograph signs before they were reprogrammed.

A day earlier, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced the start of a formal impeachment investigation into Trump. If the House votes to impeach, the case would be heard in the Republican-controlled Senate, where a two-thirds majority is required to remove a president from office.

Electronic road signs are hacked periodically around the U.S., typically to display jokes or profanities. Zombies are a common theme, and in one case a pro-Nazi message appeared. Passwords created by sign manufacturers to enter the software have circulated for years, the website Statescoop reports.

Hatfield said this is the first instance in at least three years in which a National Barricade sign message was changed. People often break into the signs to steal batteries or components, she said.

Because the signs often warn about detours and construction zones, altering them creates a risk of crashes. “It’s taking away valuable information that drivers need,” Hatfield said.