Templeton intern comes home to yard full of McMaster signs, cops say. She says it 'scared' her

A South Carolina teenager says she came home from babysitting Saturday night to find her lawn covered in campaign signs supporting Gov. Henry McMaster's 2018 re-election bid.

The problem is she works for the campaign of Republican challenger Catherine Templeton.

Emma Scott said she was "scared" when she arrived at her Mount Pleasant home about 11:45 p.m. and saw that her front yard was filled with more than three dozen signs that read "McMaster Governor."

"I didn't know what to do, that has never happened to me before," the Templeton campaign intern told The State on Sunday.

The 18-year-old Wando High School student said she woke her mother, who was in the house at the time of the incident, and they agreed to discuss it in the morning. After sleeping on it, Scott said she decided to call the police.

Sgt. Scott May, a road supervisor with the Mount Pleasant Police Department, confirmed to The State that a report was filed at 8:50 a.m., but he said there were no suspects or witnesses in the incident.

"It was not considered a crime," Scott said of her meeting with the police, who she said told her that it was not vandalism because nothing was destroyed, and it was not trespassing because her yard is not fenced in. "They said they would increase the number of patrols on my street and helped me throw away the signs."

Scott repeatedly said she had "no idea" who was responsible for putting the signs in her yard.

She could not say whether she was targeted for her involvement with the Templeton campaign by someone who knows her. Scott did say there were no Templeton signs in her yard, because her neighborhood does not allow political posters.

Scott said it was possible someone might have seen a "Templeton for Governor" bumper sticker on a car that was parked at her house at the time of the incident.

Templeton heard about the incident after Scott told a field director about the McMaster signs in her yard. Scott said the Charleston attorney called to make sure the intern was OK and apologized that the incident happened.

Templeton also took to Twitter to sound off on the incident: "The mother bear in me is really angry about old school intimidation of engaged kids from (people) who clearly work for a desperate politician," Templeton tweeted.

The McMaster campaign denied having anything to do with the signs in Scott's yard.

“No person employed by our campaign was involved in this incident in any way, and if any employee ever did something like this they would be immediately fired,” a McMaster campaign spokesperson told The State in an email.

Templeton's campaign manager said he sees a link between what he called a negative campaign ad from the McMaster campaign that first aired earlier in the weekend and the appearance of the signs in Scott's yard.

"It's very strange. Henry McMaster goes negative, and in less than 24 hours someone tries to intimidate an 18-year-old high school intern working for Catherine Templeton's campaign. They defaced her yard in the middle of the night with over 35 McMaster signs," said R.J. May III, Templeton's campaign manager. "It’s disgusting. Say what you want about Catherine, or put the signs in my yard, but don’t target teenage interns.

"It makes you scratch your head because this campaign has been going on for a year and this hasn't happened in the past. It's very coincidental," May continued.

McMaster's campaign spokesperson said one of their Lowcountry field reps got a phone call Friday from "a young girl asking if she could come by our office and pick up about 25 yard signs," adding that the field director got another call on Saturday from what they reported "sounded like the same girl."

Minutes after that second call, two high school-aged girls picked up signs from the field office, saying they were going to distribute them in the Old Village neighborhood, according to McMaster's campaign spokesperson.

That is not far from where Scott said she lives, in the Rifle Range Road area.

After learning of the incident, McMaster's campaign spokesperson said the field director drove around the Old Village area and said the signs did not appear to have been distributed.

McMaster's campaign spokesperson said that all information that could help find the person, or persons, responsible is being shared with Mount Pleasant police. That includes phone numbers connected with the girls who picked up the signs.

The spokesperson added that the McMaster campaign has tried to reach out to the Templeton campaign but has not received a response.

Scott has not been silent about the incident.

The future University of South Carolina student said she has received "loving support" from members of the Templeton campaign, including the gubernatorial hopeful herself, and that the incident has strengthened her resolve.

"It shows the importance of young people getting involved," Scott told The State. "If anything, this has increased my passion."

She has at least one month to help out the Templeton campaign before the June 12 Republican primary. Templeton will look to increase her standing on Monday, when she participates in a debate with fellow Republicans, including Lt. Gov. Kevin Bryant, former Lt. Gov. Yancey McGill and Greenville businessman John Warren.

McMaster will not participate in Monday's debate in Greenville, or Wednesday's debate in Charleston.

"She's hot to trot," R.J. May said of Templeton, adding that the candidate won't be afraid to mention the sign incident at the debates. "Catherine is even more motivated."

This story was originally published May 13, 2018 at 11:44 PM with the headline "Templeton intern comes home to yard full of McMaster signs, cops say. She says it 'scared' her."