We Tried To Talk to the Denton Sign Guy, and He Brandished His Gun at Us

Earlier this year, an older man stood on the Denton Square. He was wearing all gray and black, with thick aviator sunglasses and a trucker hat obscuring his identity. He was positioned just outside of Jupiter House Coffee, holding up a cardboard sign with the faces of Taylor Swift and Donald Trump. Under Swift’s picture was the word “Billionaire.” Under Trump’s, “Broke-Ass Bitch.”

The man was serenaded with a chorus of approving car horns and disapproving “Go Trump!” shouts from passersby. Both reactions seemed to delight him.

I approached the man and introduced myself as a writer curious about his background. After he showed his sign to another wave of cars at the intersection, he tipped the sign down and shook my hand. When he reached, I noticed a GoPro camera attached to the strap of his backpack facing outwards. Its red light was on, gathering content for a YouTube or TikTok channel I assumed.

“What’s that for?” I asked, gesturing to the camera.

“My protection,” the man said. “And I have this too.”

Leaning the sign against his right hip, he pulled up his shirt on the left side to brandish a pistol tucked into his pants. I took a few steps back.

After explaining that I meant no harm and was simply interested in his motives, he introduced himself to me.

“I go by Fred Flintstone,” he said. “But with a 'Ph' instead of an 'F.'”

Phred Phlintstone told me that he'd recently retired from his job, sent his kids through college, and now spends some free time holding his signs on the square and doxxing neo-Nazis online.

I asked if I could take some photos of him, and he obliged. I hadn’t seen him again.

Three days ago, Reddit users on r/Dallas posted a photo of a jolly Phred Phlintstone dressed in a toilet bowl costume with a Trump head getting sucked down. He had a sign, too, of course, which read: “Sometimes you have to flush twice.” Some comments under the post mentioned seeing him at the State Fair earlier that day, and at the Fort Worth Stockyards in April.

Morgan Kathryn Minear has seen him in Denton for the last four years. She graduated from the University of North Texas in 2023 and works as a barista at West Oak Coffee on the square.

“At first I assumed he was another person openly preaching on the corner, trying to sell me on a certain opinion or sell me a product,” she says.

Being around Denton for the past few years, she’s noticed a pattern when he decides to make an appearance.

“I see him around more often when election seasons are close,” Minear says. “But I’ve also seen him out when controversial things happen within local or national governments.”

Minear remembers seeing him after Roe v. Wade was overturned in Texas in August 2022.

“I agree with what he is doing, I happen to agree with what he is saying as well,” Minear says. “I have a lot of respect for his efforts. Not everyone wants to or is willing to publicize their opinions or stance in a political sense, especially when it comes to hot topics in a place like the Denton Square, where you’re bound to come across people who do not agree with his efforts.”

Seth Baker works at Minifigs, Bricks and More on Locust Street and has seen Phred Phlinstone on weekends right across from his work.

“If he wants to say something, say something,” Baker says. “That’s his right. I disagree, but he’s exercising his right.”

Technically, what Phlinstone is doing is a form of protest, but holding up intentionally vulgar or childish signs in a high-traffic area can elicit a chuckle at best or an altercation at worst.

Phred Phlintstone doesn’t seem interested in talking with anyone, reporter or not, and walks around with a constantly recording camera and firearm as if to anticipate conflict. He’s there to express his beliefs in the most provocative way possible, and it works.

Baker says he laughed at the Trump head in the toilet last week and says that the only reaction he’s noticed from customers is amusement.

“I think that’s what free speech is for,” he says.