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  • 2014-12-18 (xsd:date)
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  • A Texas Plumber's Truck Lands in Syria (en)
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  • On 15 December 2014, a photograph of a Texas plumbing company's truck that had been outfitted with an anti-aircraft firing weapon was posted to a (now-suspended) Twitter account by a Syrian militant group: While some viewers speculated the photograph had been doctored, Jeff Oberholtzer of the Mark-1 plumbing company in Texas City confirmed it was indeed his company's truck seen in the picture: The truck can also be found in other photos: The plumbing company put the truck up for auction in November 2013. It's unclear how many people owned the truckafter it was purchased from the AutoNation Ford Dealership in Houston and who ultimately sold it to the rebel group in Syria: Oberholtzer said that shortly after the photo went viral, he started receiving phone calls accusing his company of supporting terrorist groups. Regardless ofhow this truck ended up in Syria, Oberholtzer said he has learned a valuable lesson and will be removing the company's logo before selling any more trucks: In December 2015, Mark Oberholtzer (Jeff Oberholtzer's father and also part owner of the company) filed a lawsuit in Texas state court againstAutoNation Ford Gulf Freeway for $1 million for neglecting to peel off his company's decals before selling the truck he had traded in. The lawsuit contendedthat he and his employees had received continual abuse and harassment - including death threats - by phone, email, and social media since the photos of the truck first showed up on Twitter. (en)
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