‘I was heartbroken’: Video shows suspects vandalizing pride flag
AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — An Aurora woman is at her wits’ end as police investigate a repeated crime they say feels personal. The moment was caught on camera: Two people vandalized her pride flag.
As Marie Myfanawy looks at her now shredded pride flag, she struggles to find the words to convey the disappointment she feels.
“I was heartbroken,” she said.
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Myfanawy said the flag was vandalized and ripped from the flagpole at her home on Galena Street around 5:45 p.m. Saturday. Surveillance cameras captured the two people responsible.
“I looked out, I saw my pride flag was draped over the antenna of my car. It was shredded,” Myfanawy said.
She told FOX31 that when she came outside, she noticed that was not the only thing damaged.
“I noticed that with a knife, they had slashed the back panel of my car, including my tire,” she said.
Police say the same people threw a rock through a neighbor’s home, breaking their window after vandalizing their flag.
That neighbor said they threw the rock so hard it left a hole in her wall. It is now covered with a rainbow flower arrangement.
“One of the things I value about this community is it’s a very diverse community, and I always felt that all kinds of people were welcomed here,” Myfanawy said. “So for some young people to come to my door armed with knives, it’s scary.”
She hangs the pride flag up every June.
“Every year for a decade,” she said.
Did harmful pride messages lead to this vandalism?
The first thing she thought of was the recent email from the Colorado GOP stating that “God hates flags.” The party also posted on social media, calling for people to “burn all the pride flags this June.”
She believes that could be to blame for the repeated crime.
“My hope is that people will really care about America where we have the freedom to be who we want to be,” Myfanawy said. “We might have people who disagree with us, but we accept that. We don’t resort to vandalism and violence.”
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These are pictures of the two suspects. They were last seen near 170 Fulton St.
If something like this happened to you or if you know the suspects in the video, you are asked to call police to report it.
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