A man pulled down a Pride flag hanging outside a candy shop in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and police were called by two 10-year-old boys who witnessed the vandalism.
Surveillance video shows the suspect approaching Evolution Candy on East State Street, limping and limping, before touching a Pride flag. According to the footage shown, he appeared to say something incomprehensible during the incident. WPVI-TV.
Evolution Candy owner James Lamb said the incident occurred shortly after he left the store on Dec. 6.
“I don’t know if he was waiting for me to leave, but I don’t think so,” Lam told WPVI. “If you’ve seen the video, you can’t tell if he was limping or if he was drunk.”
Lamb said two 10-year-old boys nearby witnessed the incident and told the man they were going to call the police.
According to audio from the surveillance video, the suspect disappeared from view of the camera as he was confronted by the youths, but allegedly responded, “Call the police. 1-800-WHOCARES. No gay people!”
After the children alerted authorities, the Central Bucks Regional Police Department identified the suspect as 60-year-old James Mellon of Lansdale, near Montgomery County.
This is the fourth time in the past two years that the store has been targeted because of the Pride flag.
Other Pride flags in the area have also been torn or stolen, including one taken from a flagpole near a Civil War monument.
“To me, the Pride flag welcomes everyone,” Tracy Lamb, co-owner of the store, told TAPinto Doylestown. “Apparently some people don’t feel welcome. They feel threatened.”
Ram is not deterred by vandalism. As with previous incidents, a new Pride flag will be purchased and replace the torn flag.
“Every time something like this happens, we automatically re-raise another flag,” he said. Bucks County delivery times. “This is just a symbol that this is a town where everyone is welcome and inclusive. So we’re always going to build something different.”
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
