Texan’s truck plays starring role in ISIS video

A plumber from Texas is suing a Ford dealership in the US after his company’s old sign-written Ford F-250 pick-up appeared in a propaganda video for an extremist terrorist group loyal to ISIS.

The video, filmed somewhere in Syria by the jihadist group back in December 2014, clearly shows a truck branded with “Mark-1 Plumbing” firing a bed-mounted anti-aircraft gun.

Unfortunately for former owner Mark Oberholtzer, as well as his company’s name, its phone number is also clearly listed, prompting the Texas City resident to receive more than 1000 threatening phone calls and for him to be branded a ISIS sympathiser on social media.

Things got worse, said the Texan, when the video clip appeared again on political satirist Stephen Colbert’s “The Colbert Report” TV show, where it was watched by more than 2.5 million people.

According to US news website, nydailynews.com, the abuse was so bad Oberholtzer was forced to shut down his business for a week and carry a handgun for “personal protection”.

According to reports, it’s still not clear how the truck fell into ISIS hands, but court records state that the truck was sold by the Houston-based Ford dealership and imported to Mersin, Turkey, in December 2013.

Oberholtzer claims the dealer should have removed his company logo before selling the vehicle, something the Ford dealer had previously done with the 10 trucks he’d sold in the past.

The owner of the plumbing company is now suing the dealer for $1 million in damages.

Speaking to US newspaper, Galveston County Daily News, the owner of Mark-1 Plumbing said: "How it ended up in Syria, I’ll never know.

“I just want it to go away, to tell you the truth.”