Hackers took over two billboards in suburban Chicago, displaying vile anti-Semitic messages such as “Death to Israel.” Oddly enough, I tried to paste it onto YouTube sensation MrBeast, who immediately got his lawyers involved.
Commuters heading home through Northbrook, a Chicago suburb with a large Jewish population, were horrified by the hateful display Wednesday night, the first night of the Jewish festival of Sukkot.
One sign read, “Fuck Israel,” and the other said, “Death to Israel.”
Both had the message “Paid for by MrBeast LLC” printed above the Palestinian flag, a claim vehemently denied by the popular YouTuber, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson.
“Mr. Beast is not paying for this sign,” the agent said. told Fox 32 Chicago.
“Once we learned of its existence, we immediately contacted our lawyers and authorities on how to remove it.”
Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.) said his cell phone started exploding shortly after a “disturbing” and “threatening” billboard message appeared around 5:30 p.m.
“The places where these signs are located are communities with large Jewish populations, and tonight is the beginning of the Jewish holiday, Sukkot,” Schneider told FOX 32.
“Whoever did this clearly had an anti-Semitic intent.”
The congressman said he immediately contacted local law enforcement and contacted Outfront Media, the company that owns the sign, to remove the message.
“It must have been a shock. [to drivers]'' Schneider said. “One person said they had their children in the car and they had young children in the car, but they were old enough to read.”
“You know, these are big billboards. How do you explain that to young people?”
By 7 p.m., the digital signage had been shut down by OUTFRONT Media. Investigators confirmed that the company was not responsible for the display and suggested that hackers were behind the aggressive behavior.
“Business representatives worked quickly and cooperatively to remove the fraudulent message from the electronic signage,” Northbrook village officials said in a statement.
Outfront has launched its own internal investigation into the matter, the company said.
North Bull police said the investigation is ongoing.
