Pride Fest won’t be deterred after second vandalism of crosswalk
Vandals have struck again only two days after skid marks appeared across the transgender and rainbow flag crosswalks downtown.
Between 10:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, police believe someone deliberately defaced the rainbow crosswalk in an incident of hate-motivated mischief.
Early Thursday morning, a City of Lethbridge employee initially reported to police that tar and manure had been spread on the rainbow crosswalk at the intersection of 3 Avenue and 6 Street South. A street sweeper was dispatched to clean it up, but the black marks remained.
The crosswalks were painted just one week ago by city crews and funded by Lethbridge Pride Fest. This is the second incident of vandalism since then. The first happened late Monday night when multiple skid marks appeared across both crosswalks. Similar incidents happened earlier this month in Saskatoon, as well as in Whitehorse, Yukon.
“This is a direct attack on the LGBTQ+ community. We need to call it like it is,” said Lethbridge Pride Fest in a release. “This is a direct message from someone in the city that they do not believe in equality, in love or in compassion.”
During their investigation Thursday, Lethbridge police found two cans of Tremclad black paint behind The Gate Church, less than 100 feet from the rainbow crosswalk. This is what is believed to be the cause of the black marks, not tar as was earlier reported, said Const. Ryan Darroch, LPS Downtown Unit. The manure also turned out to be peat moss laid by the city in an attempt to absorb the paint.
“It’s an issue that has cauterized our community,” said Darroch. “There’s a lot of strong opinions and it’s a dynamic situation moving forward.”
Getting video surveillance of the area at the time of the incident is part of their investigation, Darroch said, as well as testing the paint cans for any forensic evidence, including fingerprints.
He would not confirm whether police have obtained any video or whether they have any suspects.
“The ironic part of this is City crews, that are paid by the City of Lethbridge, now have to show up and clean up this mess, as they would with any crosswalks that had been vandalized in this manner,” said Darroch. After speaking with a City supervisor, Darroch estimates the additional cost to taxpayers for the city cleanup to be around $1,000.
Despite the second hit in one week, Lethbridge Pride says this will bring the community closer together than ever before. They “will not sit in fear and in sorrow from these acts of bigotry,” and are just going to get “louder and prouder.”
“With the burnouts, you could already see it brought our community closer together,” said Devon Hargreaves, Lethbridge Pride Fest board chair. “Now with paint, we’re not going to let that put us down. We’re going to unite and we’re going to go forward.”
There have been several comments on various social media sites from individuals who have expressed the desire to deface the crosswalks, both before and after the first incident occurred. Other comments state skidmarks are to be expected on a city street.
Although there have been some negative comments, the LGBTQ+ community has received a huge outpouring of support including from several politicians.
“We’ve had such an incredible showing of support from the community. We only expect that to grow, and we’re very happy to see that,” said Hargreaves. “Once again, we’re not going to let the acts of one or multiple people now at this point with two attacks, dampen our spirits. We have our regularly scheduled Pride that’s going to happen as planned. We’re not going to let this get us down.”
City crews shut down a portion of westbound 3 Avenue Thursday morning to pressure wash as much of the black paint as possible.
Prior to this incident and the recent heavy rain, the City’s Transportation staff were already planning to touch up parts of both crosswalks where some of the paint wasn’t adhering well.
Because of the black paint, the rainbow crosswalk will need to be repainted before the Pride parade on June 24.
“If this was something that was done deliberately to target Pride Fest and its members, it is incredibly disappointing to see a segment of our community treated with such disrespect,” said Mayor Chris Spearman in a released statement. “Lethbridge is a welcoming, inclusive city, and the act of one or two ignorant people doesn’t change that. As a community, we will continue to embrace and celebrate diversity, and we encourage everyone to come together for Pride Fest events in the coming week.”
The community is invited to show its support at the Pride flag raising at city hall on Monday at 6:30 p.m. Pride flags will also be raised today at 9 a.m. at Lethbridge College and at 10:30 a.m. the University of Lethbridge.
The police investigation is still in the early stages. If anyone has information about the incident, or saw any suspicious persons or vehicles in the area between 10:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, contact police at 403-328-4444 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or www.tipsubmit.com.