A clinical psychologist who works at the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health has claimed responsibility for dropping off a gift-wrapped box of horse manure near the home of U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Christmas Eve.
The stunt resulted in the Los Angeles Police Department's bomb squad being called to Mnuchin's home in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles. The U.S. Secret Service has confirmed interviewing an individual in connection with the incident but did not divulge the person's identity. Mnuchin has not commented.
Robert "Robby" Strong (identified as "Dr. Robert" of Eagle Rock, Los Angeles on his Twitter profile) tweeted a photo of himself preparing the box for delivery:
This is gonna go down in the anals of history.#mnuchinchristmas#ghostofchristmaspresent#projectsecretsanta#taxlawishorseshit pic.twitter.com/4dWYWxsl77
— Dr. Robert (@RobertStrong13) December 24, 2017
400 years ago Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the Wittenberg door. This week I delivered my 95 FECES to the door of the Secretary of the Treasury, the Lord of Mammon, as Jesus and the Essenes would have called him. It's time for another Reformation.
— Dr. Robert (@RobertStrong13) December 25, 2017
He also tweeted a photo of a "Merry Catsmess" card he included with the box:
Here's the card that went with the box of horse manure I got Steve Mnuchin for Christmas. Because if money is free speech so is horse shit.#thenewtaxbillishorseshit#SteveMnuchin #mammon#Scrooge#ghostofchristmaspresent#shit pic.twitter.com/XkeOMlN50H
— Dr. Robert (@RobertStrong13) December 24, 2017
The card reads:
Mrs. Mnuchin & Trump,
We're returning the "gift" of the Christmas tax bill. It's bullshit.
Warmest Wishes,
The American PeopleP.S. Kiss Donald for me.
In an interview with Los Angeles radio station KPCC, Strong said his aim was to send a political message to the Trump administration, namely that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act soon to be signed into law by President Trump amounts to "brazenly ripping off the American people":
"What I did, I would like to compare to what Jesus did when he went into the temple and overturned the tables of the moneychangers, who were exploiting the people financially in the name of religion. I feel like that's what the GOP has done to the American people," he told KPCC.
AL.com reported that Strong provided "convincing evidence" that he was behind the stunt and elaborated on his motives:
He defended his decision to drop the box of manure - which he says he got from a horse-owning friend — off at Mnuchin's house as a "prank" aimed at raising the awareness of Americans about the idea that "Republicans have done nothing for the American worker" and other political topics.
"The thing I live by is a rule of transparency and I was exercising my First Amendment rights," Strong told AL.com. "A few years ago when [a Supreme Court ruling] said that corporations are persons and money equals free speech, that is so absurd and my rule of thumb is now that if corporations are free speech, then so is horses***t."
He told KPCC he is aware the gesture could imperil his job with the Dept. of Mental Health, who confirmed to us that a Robert Strong is employed by them but had no further comment.
For the time being, at least, he still has a job. We reached out to Strong via his L.A. County e-mail address and he told us that his boss is "very supportive" and the public response to his poo prank has been generally, though not entirely, positive:
I’ve gotten lots of support, people offering me jobs if I get fired, etc., people sharing that they experienced a vicarious catharsis in my act — which is part of the reason I did it. I am not a big fan of the death threats, though. Shit’s getting just a little too real right now.