STATON, KY -
Stephan Marcum, 58, of Stanton, was arrested Saturday and charged with terroristic threatening after a local prosecutor reported the display to authorities.
The grim scene, set up outside Marcum's home on Court Street, featured several black plastic bags shaped like corpses, each tagged with the names or positions of community leaders in Powell County.
Shocked residents and community leaders said it looked less like a Halloween prank and more like a direct threat.
According to police, the fake decorations were seized and taken to Kentucky State Police Post 8 in Morehead as evidence. Marcum is being held at the Powell County Detention Center on a $5,000 bond.
Police have not released a motive, but local officials said the incident highlights how political anger in small-town America is increasingly spilling into the public square - sometimes in disturbing and dangerous ways.
Last October, a children's soft play center in Gloucestershire, England, apologized after hanging fake body bags as Halloween decorations that left parents horrified.
Rugrats and Halfpints in Cirencester removed the props after complaints. Photos showed black bin bags tied to resemble human bodies, some wrapped in tape marked Caution and Danger.
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