Teens May Face Hate Crime Charges For Rainbow Crosswalks Vandalism

Lgbt background with rainbow lines. — Source: AndrUa / Getty

Four teens ranging in age from 16 to 18 face potential hate crime charges after being arrested for allegedly vandalizing Pride flags at Atlanta’s Rainbow Crosswalks.

According to NBC News, Atlanta police received calls around 1:40 a.m. Tuesday, reporting that the group of four allegedly tore down pride flags from local establishments on Piedmont Avenue and 10th Street, a hub for the city’s LGBTQ community. “They’re in the middle of the street popping wheelies, tearing up flags,” a man can be heard saying during the 911 call.

They allegedly took the flags and began cutting them up with a knife on the intersection’s rainbow crosswalk, while also making the big brain move to record video of themselves vandalizing the flags. They attempted to flee the scene on motorized scooters before the police eventually apprehended them.

The alleged vandals were two 18-year-olds, a 17-year-old, and a 16-year-old. In Georgia, 17-year-olds are automatically charged as adults. All four have been charged with obstruction, criminal damage to property, conspiracy, and prowling. A citation was also issued to the father of the 16-year-old for not supervising his child. Police said the four had coordinated the disruption and had driven quite a distance from their homes northwest of the city.

What is going on with kids these days, y’all?

When I was a teenage boy, getting up to nonsense on a summer night involved watching a midnight movie, hanging out with girls, maybe even pulling an all-nighter, and running the Halo 3 campaign on Legendary with my best friends if we were really feeling crazy. We weren’t out here harassing the LGBTQ community and potentially getting charged with hate crimes.

“As far as it being labeled a hate crime, that’s still under investigation,” Atlanta police Sgt. Brandon Hayes said Tuesday during a news conference. “We’re still looking at all avenues as far as how that charge will possibly come about.”

Should it be considered a hate crime, a prosecutor could request harsher penalties such as a longer jail sentence or a more severe fine. The law was enacted in 2020 following the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, whose only crime was jogging while Black.

Tenth St. and Piedmont Ave. has been one of the cornerstones of Atlanta’s LGBTQ community. It was the home of the Outwrite, the city’s first LGBTQ bookstore and coffeehouse. Atlanta’s Rainbow Crosswalks were originally installed in 2015 for Pride month, but became a permanent installation in 2017 as a tribute to the 49 people who were killed in the Pulse nightclub shooting. Unfortunately, this is not the first instance of vandalism in the area, as police arrested a man in 2022 for painting swastikas on the crosswalk.

The vandalism comes at the tail end of one of the more subdued Pride months in recent years. As a result of the Trump administration’s crusade against DEI and the LGBTQ community at large, several Pride events faced budget shortfalls after corporate sponsors pulled out, and retailers have pulled back from Pride displays in stores over fear of conservative outrage.

Adding injury to insult, the Trump administration announced this month that it would be shuttering the LGBTQ focused line of the national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Trump even tried to pull congressionally approved funds from non-profits focused on LGBTQ sexual health through an executive order, but a judge fortunately blocked most of it due to unconstitutionally vague language.

Judge Blocks Trump EO Pulling Funds From LGBTQ Health Nonprofits