A "real Indian" running against Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts filed a lawsuit after city officials in Cambridge told him to remove signs calling Warren a "fake Indian."
Shiva Ayyadurai's campaign introduced a bus on March 17 displaying images of himself and the Democratic incumbent wearing Indian attire and the words "Only a real Indian can defeat the fake Indian," Fox News reported.
The bus has been parked in front of an office building owned by Ayyadurai. A building inspector told the campaign earlier this month that it lacked the appropriate permits to display the signs and could face fines of $300 per day plus legal penalties if they weren't removed, the network said.
Ayyadurai argued in a lawsuit filed Sunday that the order is a violation of free speech, The Washington Times reported.
Ayyadurai, who was born in Bombay, India, called the demand to remove the signs a "political vendetta."
"We will not remove the slogan from our bus," Ayyadurai said, according to the Times. "We will defend the First Amendment, and we will fight this egregious attack on the First Amendment, at any cost."
The city's April 5 letter to Ayyadurai said the city had received "a series of anonymous complaints" about the signs and said they were displayed in violation of the city zoning ordinance, National Review reported.
Warren has claimed Cherokee heritage, drawing skepticism during her 2012 Senate campaign, Roll Call reported, noting that President Donald Trump has called her "Pocahontas."
Ayyadurai, who previously said he would challenge Warren as a Republican, is running against Warren as an independent, Roll Call said.
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