A St. Paul resident, Kelly Sofio, woke up this week and noticed her flagpole was on the ground and her pride flag was missing. Her husband found the flag vandalized on the ground down the street.
Sofio said she felt hurt and “then immediately angry.”
It was among 16 instances of vandalism of rainbow flags reported to St. Paul police in the Highland Park and Macalester-Groveland neighborhoods between Sunday and Wednesday afternoon.
Neighbors have been rallying together, buying more flags and signs and planning to display them in their yards.
A Highland Park resident has ordered rainbow flags and pride yard signs so she can hand them out. She’s not charging people and instead requesting they make a donation to an LGBTQ+ organization of their choice such as the Trevor Project or OutFront Minnesota.
The recent vandalism has made her feel scared, said Michelle, who asked that her last name not be used for her safety. She’s a member of the LGTBQ+ community and said her family was harassed in the past.
“In order to not feel scared, I went into action,” Michelle said of organizing to get flags to people.
Sofio, who described herself as an ally who flies the rainbow flag during Pride Month and other times of the year, discovered her Ring doorbell had recorded video shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday of a person taking down the flagpole on the front of her home, snapping the pole and then walking away with the flag.
When they later found the flag, it looked like it had been cut with a knife, Sofio said. Sofio had an older pride flag, which she “pretty immediately” hung outside her home.
“This community has been through so much,” Sofio said. “If you lived through the AIDS crisis in the ’80s and the ’90s and you lost people, and then, really, you’re going to be a coward and come at us with a mask on in the middle of the night, and you’re going to cut up our flag? … It made me really sad that there’s people like this now.”
Police asking people to check home surveillance video
Three of the cases have been on Jefferson Avenue, between the 1700 and 2000 blocks; another two were on the 1200 block of Palace Avenue and two more on the 1700 block of Bayard Avenue.
Police are investigating the reports they’ve received “under the assumption these cases are related, but with limited video and suspect information, we cannot say for certain,” said Nikki Muehlhausen, a St. Paul police spokesperson.
They’re urging people in the Highland Park and Macalester-Groveland neighborhoods to come forward if they have any surveillance footage that may show the suspect or related information.
Tips can be called into the department’s Western District at 651-266-5512 or by emailing charles.graupman@ci.stpaul.mn.us.
Flags, signs being distributed Friday
Lawrence and Kat Panas, who live in the same neighborhood as Sofio, woke up Tuesday morning and discovered their pride flag and a sign in their yard had been vandalized.
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They’ve responded by buying extra yard signs and offering them to anyone in the neighborhood who had theirs destroyed or who wants one. They also found some pride flags in stock around the Twin Cities, and are giving one to a neighbor whose flag was vandalized and another one as a gift.
People have contacted Michelle about the flags and signs she’ll be giving out. She plans to have them available outside Spyhouse Coffee Roasters on St. Paul’s Snelling Avenue Friday between noon and 1 p.m., and again from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. — people who’ve contacted her will get first priority, then residents of the neighborhood, and any extras will be for anyone who want them.
She’s encouraging people to put them in their yards, but consider taking them in for the evening, and taking a moment to meet a neighbor they haven’t.
A separate GoFundMe is fundraising for flags in the Mac-Groveland area.
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