Two suspects ripped down Pride flag, yelled 'anti-LGBTQ slurs,' police say
Suffolk County police released surveillance footage of two men on bicycles they say are responsible for ripping down a LGBTQ Pride flag from a Patchogue home in May. Credit: SCPD
Two male suspects ripped down an LGBTQ Pride flag from a house in Patchogue in May and yelled "anti-LGBTQ" slurs, according to the Suffolk County Police Department, which released a surveillance video Friday morning in the hopes of catching the perpetrators.
The incident, which is being investigated by the department's Hate Crimes Unit, happened May 17 at 6:35 p.m. at a house on Case Avenue. An image from the video shows two apparent males riding bikes along a residential street, but the video does not show the incident itself. A "Crime Alert" poster says the suspects are wanted for "Criminal Mischief/Hate Crime."
According to the department press office, the flag had been hung in a 64-year-old male victim's front yard.
"It was pulled down from where it was hanging and damaged in that process. It was left on the ground," the office said in an email.
The office did not say what slurs the males used.
The email added: "The man was in the front yard of the home and provided a description of the suspects to police. When the video was obtained, he then identified them as the people involved."
The video, now posted on youtube.com/scpdtv, was from a nearby residence's camera.
The Pride flag dates to 1978, when Gilbert Baker, a gay man who was also a drag queen, designed the first rainbow flag. He later said he was urged to make it by Harvey Milk, one of the country’s first openly gay politicians, who was assassinated that year.
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
