WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — For 21 years, Matt Warshauer has been making controversial Halloween displays in front of his yard in West Hartford, and this year will be the last.
“Fortunately, there’s never been an accident. Every day I come out and I’m like, ‘is there any broken glass?’ And there’s not,” Matt Warshauer said.
Warshauer is a history professor and the creator behind these displays but he said because of the political dynamics of the country, this is his last time.
“We’re either going to save democracy and hopefully turn a corner or we’re going to go down a very bad path and that’s what this election represents at least to me and a lot of people,” Warshauer said.
He said the display represents things that have been said by former President Donald Trump and symbols of democracy and liberty.
“The cats and dogs are obviously, you know, a little bit of a laugh of, ‘they’re eating the cats, they’re eating the dogs; they’re eating our pets.’ Just more ridiculousness coming from the mouth of the orange man,” Warshauer said. “And then I wanted to do the Statue of Liberty just because I thought this is what it’s about.”
One of the controversial displays includes Vice President Kamala Harris as the face of Lady Liberty.
“I respect her, I think she’s spent an entire life serving other people,” he said. “She’s made the statement clearly. You know she’s served one group of people, the American people.”
He even has panels about the election and one geared towards Trump supporters.
“And I ask them, I think very frankly, how can you continue to support him when half of his own cabinet who had worked with him previously as president have said these various things and I include those quotes there.”
Featured quotes include:
“He is a threat to democracy,” “erratic,” “delusional and narcissist"; all from different people including those who previously worked alongside him.
Some cars have stopped at the display to take pictures.
This has led some Republican Town Council members in West Hartford to question if this display is allowed per West Hartford’s town ordinance.
Neighbors of Warshauer said they are used to the attention his house gets this time of the year.
“He tries to give some opportunity to the other political side and people come through,” Richie Camargro said. “They’ll just park almost like in the middle of the street sometimes open the door and just touch the thing and see how it feels.”
The West Hartford Republican Town Committee provided the following statement regarding the display:
“The West Hartford Republican Town Committee upholds this resident’s First Amendment right to free speech; however, we are concerned about the divisive rhetoric that hinders constructive dialogue on significant issues facing voters. It’s been also proven that this type of rhetoric has led to two recent assassination attempts on the former president, one of which led to the death of a father and firefighter with two others critically injured.”
On one of the panels, Warshauer left sharpies where other people can write down their opinions too.
Warshauer said amid the display being controversial, he’s had fun making them for all these years but it’s time to channel that creativity to something else.
Kaye Paddyfote is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at kpaddyfote@fox61.com. Follow her on X, Facebook and Instagram.
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