WORTHINGTON, Pa. (Newsradio 1020 KDKA) - Sunoco is terminating its relationship with the owner of an Armstrong County gas station after he posted offensive messages on a nearby billboard.
John Placek's billboard along Route 422 in Worthington displayed racial slurs, and referred to Antwon Rose the Second as a criminal.
A Sunoco spokesperson told the Trib the company believes racism is unacceptable, and has started removing signage from the nearby station, independently owned by Placek.
The area's state Representative Jeff Pyle posted a response to the billboard on Facebook, condemning the content that he calls "hate speech” and tells KDKA Radio’s Lynne Hayes-Freeland a lot of people agree.
“I’ve never gotten an email and phone barrage like that before,” said Pyle. “Staff walked in Monday, 200 emails, 100 voice mails and that’s not common.”Pyle says advocates from Pittsburgh were responsible for reaching out to Sunoco.
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The billboard is currently dark.
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