A dress designer and shop owner in Occoquan, Virginia, is at a loss following a bizarre encounter with a local woman who called the police on his boutique for demonstrating his First Amendment rights by hanging Trump signs out front.

Andre Soriano, an atelier dress designer who is well-known for curating the “Make America Great Again” gown singer-songwriter Joy Villa wore to the 2017 Grammy Awards, received legal notice that he must remove signs in support of former President Trump from his business.

“I actually started a flag war here in Occoquan, Virginia,” Soriano told Fox News Digital during a video interview.

JOY VILLA WEARS PRO-TRUMP DOWN TO GRAMMYS: ‘IMPEACHED AND RE-ELECTED’

Soriano said though the first few moments of the encounter were pleasant, almost immediately, he was met with irrationality and backlash about the patriotic decor perched at the front of the store.

“The reason I put my Trump dress outside is, so I don’t have to encounter [this],” Soriano said.

Audra Johnson, a political activist and friend of Soriano, recorded the run in and posted it to social media after he texted her for help with the scene.

“I have a video of her hiding in a bush,” Johnson told Fox News Digital. “I don’t know what she was doing.”

“This wokeism is real,” Soriano is heard telling the police officer in one of the videos. “The ‘Karens’ are real. They’re crying for nothing. Because of a sign. Come on.”

“Karen” is a slang term referring to an entitled White person.

“We always have them,” Johnson said. “We have a love of ‘Karens’.”

Soriano and Johnson said that previously, women have thrown stink bombs in the store and popped their heads in to scream derogatory phrases.

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The duo said the woman was hysterically crying in the street and that she did call the police. A lone officer removed the woman from the store’s entrance and Johnson said she was taken to a local restaurant to “calm her down”.

“As an American citizen, as a First Amendment in our great nation, you can express yourself by putting your signs in your home and expressing who you are as an individual, whether it’s religion, whether it’s politics or anything that you feel, without harming anyone,” Soriano said. “That’s just the freedom of artistic expression and being free in America, and nowadays, you can’t even express that.”

Soriano and Johnson live in the residences above the store. After being cited by the city to remove the Trump-supporting signs from the business, they suspended them from their homes, despite having been hung for years prior to the incident.

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Joy Villa has been known to sport dresses that Hollywood finds controversial to red carpet events. The first she wore was the “Make America Great Again” dress that Andre Soriano designed for her in 2017 after Donald Trump won the presidency. (Getty Images)

However, they were cited a second time to remove some, but not all, the signs.

“We’re just trying our hardest to not get fines we can’t pay,” Johnson said.

“We follow rules,” Soriano said. “We don’t disrespect anyone.”

The business owner is appalled by the ordinance as he believes America is the “land of the free, not the land of what people think.”

“I’m an American designer,” Soriano said. “I am free to express and create whatever I want.”

Soriano, originally from the Philippines, said his mother immigrated the family to America when he was a teenager to live the American Dream.

JOY VILLA: WHY I CHOOSE LIFE OVER ABORTION – THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY THAT BEGAN FOR ME AT 20

Political activist and friend of Andre Soriano caught a woman on camera throwing a fit and calling the police on Soriano’s gown shop for having signs in support of Trump hanging out front. (Andre Soriano)

“I love America,” Soriano said.

The fashion designer said he was once employed by stars, including Rihanna, Pharrell Williams, Miley Cyrus and Courtney Love, but was blacklisted when he designed the infamous “MAGA” dress from 2017.

“That’s when our lives changed,” he said. “We had death threats.”

“There are a lot of celebrities in Hollywood that are very divisive, and they didn’t really like President Trump,” Soriano said.

The creative director added that he lost his friends, clients and potential business opportunities in California.

Johnson was also blacklisted as a stage and film actress when she was photographed marching at Rosa Parks Circle in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with a sign that read “Trump is your president.”

“We’re in an industry where we can’t just say what we want or how we feel,” Johnson said.

“We don’t fit the mold.”

A federal appeals court on Sunday ruled that a lower court was correct to re-instate some 1,600 Virginia voters who have questionable citizenship status to the rolls.

The ruling came after immigrants and women’s rights groups sued the state and its Board of Elections after Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order in August directing state officials to identify noncitizens, who were given two weeks to dispute being disqualified before being removed from voter rolls.

Youngkin’s attorneys argued that the law applies to actual voters and that removing non-citizens isn’t covered. The appeals court for the Fourth Circuit said the state was mixing various parts of the law together.

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“That is not how courts interpret statutes,” the appeals court said in its ruling. 

On Sunday, he vowed to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

“It’s commonsense: noncitizens shouldn’t be on our voter rolls,” he wrote on X. 

“Thank you @JasonMiyaresVA for filing immediately with the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency appeal of the order for Virginia to put over 1,500 people who self-identified as non-citizens back on the voter rolls,” the governor said to Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares. 

On Friday, U.S. Judge Patricia Giles issued a preliminary injunction to reinstate all voters who had been removed from state voter rolls in the past 90 days. The judge found that the removals had been “systematic,” not individualized, and were thus a violation of federal law.

Her ruling came after the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the State of Virginia, Virginia State Board of Elections and Virginia Commissioner of Elections on Oct. 11, saying that by removing voters from rolls too close to the Nov. 5 general election, the state had violated the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA).

YOUNGKIN HITS BACK AT DOJ SUIT OVER ‘COMMON SENSE’ LAW THAT CULLS NONCITIZENS FROM VOTER ROLL

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia is seen in Alexandria, Va. (Bonnie Cash/Getty Images)

“Let’s be clear about what just happened: only eleven days before a Presidential election, a federal judge ordered Virginia to reinstate over 1,500 individuals–who self-identified themselves as noncitizens–back onto the voter rolls,” Youngkin said in a statement Friday. 

“Almost all these individuals had previously presented immigration documents confirming their noncitizen status, a fact recently verified by federal authorities,” he added. 

Voters fill out their ballots on Election Day in 2023.

 

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Should the case be picked up by the high court, it would come within days of the election. 

Celebrities are increasingly hitting the campaign trail in support of Vice President Kamala Harris as the U.S. is now less than two weeks away from Election Day. 

Harris has already received support from musical artists Megan Thee Stallion, Bon Iver and John Legend, who have shown up for her at events in Georgia and Wisconsin. 

Here are 10 more celebrities that are campaigning for Harris in her 2024 campaign’s final weeks: 

Eminem 

The rapper appeared at a Harris-Walz campaign rally on Tuesday in Detroit, Michigan, telling a crowd there, “The spotlight is on us more than ever and I think it’s important to use your voice.” 

EMINEM CAMPAIGNS FOR KAMALA HARRIS – WILL IT SWAY DETROIT VOTERS? 

“I also think that people shouldn’t be afraid to express their opinions and I don’t think anyone wants an America where people are worried about retribution or what people will do if you make your opinion known,” he continued. “I think Vice President Harris supports a future for this country where these freedoms and many others will be protected and upheld.” 

Bruce Springsteen 

The Harris campaign announced a concert series with Bruce Springsteen in battleground states to mobilize voters with less than two weeks to go until Election Day. 

The Harris campaign’s “When We Vote We Win” concert series will begin on Thursday in the Atlanta area, followed by a second show on Monday in Philadelphia. 

The concert series will hit all seven battleground states: Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Wisconsin. 

Usher 

The pop star joined Harris last weekend at a rally in Atlanta, telling a crowd at the Lakewood Amphitheater, “Normally, I’m up here to entertain, but today for something far more significant for Atlanta and all of Georgia.” 

TRUMP, HARRIS NECK AND NECK IN BATTLEGROUND STATES ARIZONA, GEORGIA, NORTH CAROLINA 

Usher speaks during a campaign rally with Harris at Lakewood Amphitheatre in Atlanta, Ga., on Oct. 19. (Christian Monterrosa/AFP via Getty Images)

The “Yeah!” singer said that he supports Harris because she “fights for everyone’s rights, for freedom, and it doesn’t matter where you’re from.” 

“She has a vision for our country that includes everyone.” 

Lizzo 

The singer and rapper backed Harris at a get-out-the-vote rally in the singer’s hometown of Detroit on Saturday, calling Michigan the “swing state of all swing states, so every last vote here counts.” 

She added, “If you ask me if America is ready for its first woman president, I only have one thing to say: ‘It’s about damn time!’” referencing her 2022 song. 

Julia Roberts 

The actress campaigned for Harris during five events in Georgia earlier this month. 

At a reproductive freedom rally in Cherokee County, Roberts said, “I believe in Georgia. I wouldn’t have come home if I didn’t believe that we can accomplish really beautiful goals that will extend beyond our state’s borders.” 

Stevie Wonder performs during a campaign event with Harris at Divine Faith Ministries International in Jonesboro, Ga., on Oct. 20. (Christian Monterrosa/AFP via Getty Images)

“I just hope that all the women here tonight talk to all the men that aren’t here tonight. And all you brave men that are here tonight, talk to all the other men who aren’t here tonight. And let’s just get it going, enough with the fighting,” she added. 

Stevie Wonder 

The singer performed “Happy Birthday” to Harris on Sunday at a church in Jonesboro, Ga., as the vice president turned 60. 

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“We’re going to make the difference between yesterday and tomorrow,” Wonder told a crowd there while delivering a message to go out and vote, according to The Associated Press. 

Willie Nelson 

The country music legend is set to host a “Cannabis Community Virtual Rally for Kamala Harris” on Thursday night, where he will be joined in a Zoom call with Whoopi Goldberg, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and others. 

He then will appear tomorrow night alongside Harris at a campaign rally in Houston, Texas. 

Jennifer Garner 

The actress has recently campaigned for Harris in both Arizona and Pennsylvania. 

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In Lancaster County, Garner said, “I love that [Kamala Harris] is going to help small businesses get up and running,” according to WHTM. 

Actress Jennifer Garner has also campaigned for Harris. (Reuters/Mario Anzuoni)

“I love that she is going to help young people or people with first time homeownership and that she’s going to build more houses and really address the housing crisis we have in this country,” Garner added. 

 

Samuel L. Jackson and Spike Lee 

Actor Samuel L. Jackson and director Spike Lee are scheduled to join Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen tonight at the first “When We Vote, We Win” concert in Clarkston, Ga. 

Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Brie Stimson contributed to this report. 

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Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.