New York police have launched an investigation to a possible hate crime after two Pride flags were burned outside a Harlem bar.
Police responded to a call outside the Alibi Lounge on West 139th street late Friday night. Unknown vandals had set the flags aflame, though by the time police arrived, rainfall had extinguished the fire. Investigators are now trying to determine if the incident should be classified as a hate crime.
The news reached New York governor Andrew Cuomo the next morning, who issued an immediate response via Twitter. “I am disgusted by the burning of a Pride flag outside an LGBTQ bar in Harlem early yesterday morning. There is no place for hate in New York. ?I am directing the @NYSPolice Hate Crimes Task Force to provide NYPD with any resources needed to investigate this repugnant incident,” Cuomo said.
I am disgusted by the burning of a Pride flag outside an LGBTQ bar in Harlem early yesterday morning.
There is no place for hate in New York. ?I am directing the @NYSPolice Hate Crimes Task Force to provide NYPD with any resources needed to investigate this repugnant incident. pic.twitter.com/6MgkxmnHCk
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) June 1, 2019
Employees of Alibi Lounge also responded via Instagram, sharing an image of the burned flags and a message of courage. “Few minutes ago, someone set our rainbow flags on fire,” the post said. “To the homophobic coward, we will make our mission to find you! It’s #pridemonth motherf*cker!”
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Members of the LGBTQ community and Harlem residents rallied on Saturday to support the bar. “Seeing this, what goes through your mind?” Harlem resident Sheba Simpson-Amsterdam told CBS News. “Hate but I also know that love overcomes hate so that’s why we came out today in solidarity. We want people to know that this cannot continue to happen in our community at all.”
MISTERJETT
possible hate crime??
GayEGO
We seem to have more of these hate crimes lately, are they instigated by Trump?
dwes09
Specifically instigated, no. Subtly legitimized, very likely.
There has been an increase in hate crimes darting from the start of the last presidential campaign. It is not as large, however, as reported, as the number of unreported incidents has been decreasing.
The same is true of sexual assaults, more incidents are being reported, so the number of incidents appears to be going up higher than it actually is.
Not sure how statisticians deduce this, but this is the conclusion from most reputable sources.
Rex Huskey
is burning an American flag a hate crime? get real gurls
dwes09
Burning an American flag is considered protected speech, essentially because the flag represents a political entity.
I know the right has a really, really hard time with nuance or abstractions, but the rainbow flag does not represent a political entity. It represents a specific group of people, who happen to have legal standing as a suspect class.
Because of this, vandalizing the flag, especially outside a venue for the people the flag represents can be seen as a hate crime: an action akin to spray painting swastikas on a synagogue, or burning a cross on someone’s lawn.