Pride flags being stolen across Tacoma. Police investigating thefts as hate crimes
For Joe and Josh Hargrave, the LGBTQ Pride flag stolen from the second story of their Old Town Tacoma home was an attack on them.
“This is who I am as a person,” Joe said. “That flag represents the core of me.”
The Hargraves’ theft is one of at least nine Pride-flag thefts that occurred in Tacoma and Ruston last weekend. Tacoma police are investigating the thefts as hate crimes. Most of the thefts, according to Tacoma Police spokesperson Shelbie Boyd, were in the city’s North End.
Pride flags are a visual emblem of the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) community. Across the nation, June is recognized as Pride month. Typically, large cities like Seattle hold their Pride events the last weekend of June while surrounding cities hold theirs before or after. Tacoma’s Pride event will be July 8.
Broken
Joe Hargrave discovered the theft Monday morning when he took his dogs outside and saw his broken flag pole.
“I turned around and immediately saw that our Pride flag had been taken down,” he said.
Josh and Joe Hargrave grew up in conservative families in Louisiana and Utah, respectively, they said. They understand that their very existence can be unsettling to some people. But the Pride flag, they said, has nothing to do with politics. It’s about community and support.
“For all those people out there that see this flag, just know that someone who lives here supports you, understands what you’re going through,” Joe said. “It’s a safe space.”
The Hargraves married in 2015. Josh is an engineer and Joe is a captain and psychiatrist nurse practitioner in the U.S. Army stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The couple relocated to Tacoma in April from Bethesda, Maryland.
Police response
Tacoma Police acknowledged that Pride flag thefts can stoke fear within the LGBTQ community and its allies.
“Together we believe in fostering an atmosphere of equity, inclusion, for our diverse Tacoma residents,” Tacoma police said in a statement.
Based on the thieves’ suspected motivation, Tacoma police are investigating the crimes under malicious harassment and theft statutes.
Despite the thefts, public displays of Pride flags are increasing. In May, the Fircrest City Council voted unanimously to fly the Pride flag in their city. The Pride flag will be raised over the Tacoma Dome on June 30.
Reporting hate crimes
In November, a Tacoma conference organized by U.S. District Attorney Nick Brown brought together experts on hate crimes focused on the LGBTQ community.
“It’s confusing, even to people that work in this field, about whether something is a hate incident or a hate crime,” said Ryan Bruett, a special agent with the FBI in Seattle. “When does it cross that line? And sometimes it’s a gray line. So we don’t expect the good citizenry to make those distinctions.”
The message, the law enforcement and justice officials repeatedly said that day: report all hate incidents and crimes.
Offenders who commit serious hate crimes often start out with lesser incidents, the experts said.
In March, a transgender Pride flag was stolen from the Hilltop home of a Tacoma couple. Henry, who asked that his last name not be used, said he and his wife also had sign yards supporting trans youth stolen. The couple replaced the Pride flag only to have it stolen a few days later.
“We heard them walking up our steps at 2:30 in the morning,” Henry said. “We got up to see if everything was OK and sure enough, the flag was gone.”
Henry reported the theft to Tacoma police, he said, but police did not respond.
Increasing harassment
Nationwide, far-right rhetoric with baseless claims aimed at the LGBTQ community has increased. Protesters have shown up at drag queen events and school board meetings.
On Saturday, white supremacists protested at a Lewis County Pride event in Centralia. One of the attendees was Daniel Rowe, according to The Chronicle. Rowe was convicted of stabbing an interracial couple in Olympia in 2016. He is a founder of the neo-nazi Evergreen Active Club which duped Kennewick’s HAPO Center into hosting a fight night last year in commemoration of a Pacific Northwest white nationalist.
In Tacoma, police said detectives will be contacting victims of the recent thefts.
“Hate has no place in the City of Tacoma and the Tacoma Police Department will do their best to ensure these perpetrators are brought to justice,” police said.
Quincy Tyson, the executive director of Tacoma’s Rainbow Center, said his downtown office had a rock thrown through its window in May. Still, he said that incident and the flag thefts are dwarfed by community support for the region’s LGBTQ residents.
“There is more support for us, than against us,” Tyson said.
Meanwhile, the Hargraves have purchased another Pride flag. It will be installed soon, along with security cameras.
The incident hasn’t shaken their faith in Tacoma. Their neighbors have been supportive, they said. Still, it makes them wonder what might happen next.
“If they’re willing to do this in the middle of the night ... how far are people willing to go?” Joe Hargrave said.
If you are a victim
Call: Tacoma Police Department at 253-287-4455 or 911 if a crime is in progress.
Call: Rainbow Center at 253-383-2318 or email at info@rainbowcntr.org
Online: FBI at tips.fbi.gov/home
