A nineteen year old and two other teenage children have been arrested for leaving scooter skid marks on a LGBTQ flag painted on a road intersection in Spokane, Washington. The event drew widespread attention to the enforcement measures used and the broader implications for community relations and free expression.
Yes, really.
They were all charged with first-degree malicious mischief, a class B felony in the state, after police described the damage as “black scuff marks consistent with scooter wheels.”
KREM News reports that the precious mural had recently been repainted after a previous incident last month when multiple suspects covered the road painting in flammable liquid and set it ablaze.
The report quotes a woman who called police on the kids as saying “we’re not gonna sit by as we watch people deliberately commit a hate crime like right in the middle of downtown.”
On Wednesday, SPD said they received a 911 call reporting multiple people on scooters causing damage to the mural.
According to court documents obtained by KREM 2, many witnesses sitting at the bar at O’Doherty’s Irish Grille saw around four people on Lime Scooters riding over the Pride flag mural.
Kaylee Gaines McGee was one of those people at O’Doherty’s who saw the group of teenagers using lime scooters to create skid marks on the mural.
“We see that you have done this thing, and ” McGee said. “People don’t just go and do that without intention. You don’t destroy symbols without intention behind it.”
Court documents show when one of the witnesses confronted the young teens, one of the minors shouted back “F*** you F*****” and “Go to Hell.” A different witness also heard a suspect in the group say “F*****” according to court documents.
Court documents state that a different witness saw the teens revving and intentionally scooting their tires over the mural, the witness also took photos of two of the suspects with their phone.
After talking to witnesses and obtaining video surveillance, SPD detained the suspects thirty-four minutes after the initial call near Washington and Spokane Falls Blvd.
Modernity news weighed in by stating:
‘Good lord, the horror.
They’re just kids, for God’s sake.
While prosecutors had sought to set a $15,000 bail for the 19 year old, he was let out of jail on the proviso not to go near the mural again.
The other two children were released after being held in the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center.
It’s a road. Are they going to put someone in jail and spend $15,000 repainting it every time it gets a mark on it?
Also note from the video how the mural has several hi-tech security cameras and a loudspeaker pointed at it.
Why?
As we previously highlighted, this is now a common occurrence given that Democrat run councils are allowing people to paint pride symbols all over the roads’.
Many conservative voices have expressed concern over what they perceive as an overreach by law enforcement. The incident has been viewed by some as indicative of a broader trend toward excessive punishment for actions that, while disrespectful, may not warrant such severe consequences.
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