Current:Home > Markets'Cowardly act': Over 200 pride flags stolen in Massachusetts town overnight, police say -Momentum Wealth Path
'Cowardly act': Over 200 pride flags stolen in Massachusetts town overnight, police say
View
Date:2025-04-14 17:14:11
Over 200 pride flags were stolen from a display in a Massachusetts town outside of Boston just days before a local pride event and the start of Pride Month, according to town officials.
The flags were taken from the rotary at the center of Carlisle near the intersection of Lowell Street, Bedford Road and Westford Road, the Carlisle Police Department said in a news release Friday. They were last seen on May 26 and were stolen overnight between Sunday and Monday, according to police.
Carlisle town officials said the flags were lawfully permitted to be placed in the area and that they were put there to celebrate the beginning of Pride Month.
"Stealing property and undermining freedom of expression is a cowardly act and has no place in our town," the Carlisle Select Board said in a statement to the town of over 5,000 people. "We are saddened by this act and for the harm it has caused."
The police department said it is actively investigating the theft and have asked for the public's assistance.
"We are taking this very seriously," Carlisle police Chief Andrew Amendola said in a statement. "It is unfortunate, as Carlisle is an inclusive community, and we want everyone to feel safe and welcomed here."
The incident is the latest involving the LGBTQ+ community, which has seen a rash of attacks and a surge in legislation targeting LGBTQ+ rights in recent years. Advocacy groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Human Rights Campaign, reported a record number of anti-LGBTQ+ bills that were introduced in state legislatures across the United States last year.
More than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were proposed in 2023, according to the Human Rights Campaign, the country's largest gay rights organization. In June 2023, the organization issued a "state of emergency" after over 75 anti-LGBTQ+ bills were signed into law in various states, more than doubling the number of such bills in 2022.
Pride Month 2024:LGBTQ+ communities, allies around US taking steps to promote safety at Pride 2024 events
Pride flags replaced ahead of community event, reports say
Community members in Carlisle quickly came together to replace the hundreds of flags before the scheduled pride event on Friday afternoon, NBC Boston and CBS Boston reported. The event has grown in popularity in recent years and had a large turnout on Friday, according to WCVB-TV and CBS Boston.
Organizers for the pride event told WCVB-TV that they were determined to not let the incident distract them.
"Actually, it's brought a lot more interest in this. Carlisle always responds with love. It's kind of amazing. Someone wrote something anti-LGBTQ+ rights a few years and the whole town put out Pride flags," Pride festival organizer Rachel Freed told the television station.
Recent attacks on LGBTQ+ pride flags
Pride flags were stolen or destroyed in numerous incidents across several states last year. Ahead of a Pride Day assembly at an elementary school in North Hollywood, California, authorities said a person broke into the school and set a small LGBTQ+ flag on fire that was displayed in a flower pot in May 2023.
In one week alone in June 2023, authorities said pride flags were stolen, slashed or burned in at least five states, including California, Utah, Arizona, Nebraska and Pennsylvania. Similar incidents had also occurred in the previous month in California and New York, including a man that defecated on a pride flag in Manhattan.
In Omaha, Nebraska, a masked man set fire to a pride flag being displayed outside a home on June 2. Authorities said a pride flag had been stolen from the home before in April.
Just a day later, police arrested a teenage boy on suspicion of ripping a pride flag while pulling it down from a home in Huntington Beach, California. Then on June 6, authorities said someone took down a pride flag outside the city hall in Tempe, Arizona, and burned it.
Last August, a Colorado man was arrested and charged after he allegedly removed and destroyed pride flags at New York City's Stonewall National Monument, the first U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights and history.
Incidents have also turned violent, including when a Southern California shop owner was shot and killed over a pride flag on display outside her store in August 2023.
Contributing: Claire Thornton and Amanda Lee Myers, USA TODAY
veryGood! (33)
Related
- Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Trump suggestion that Egypt, Jordan absorb Palestinians from Gaza draws rejections, confusion
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- Former Danish minister for Greenland discusses Trump's push to acquire island
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- Juan Soto praise of Mets' future a tough sight for Yankees, but World Series goal remains
- Civic engagement nonprofits say democracy needs support in between big elections. Do funders agree?
- Jamie Foxx gets stitches after a glass is thrown at him during dinner in Beverly Hills
Ranking
- Could your smelly farts help science?
- Juan Soto praise of Mets' future a tough sight for Yankees, but World Series goal remains
- Grammy nominee Teddy Swims on love, growth and embracing change
- Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
- Meta releases AI model to enhance Metaverse experience
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- The Grammy nominee you need to hear: Esperanza Spalding
- Meet the volunteers risking their lives to deliver Christmas gifts to children in Haiti
Recommendation
Jamie Foxx gets stitches after a glass is thrown at him during dinner in Beverly Hills
Average rate on 30
Warm inflation data keep S&P 500, Dow, Nasdaq under wraps before Fed meeting next week
See you latte: Starbucks plans to cut 30% of its menu
California DMV apologizes for license plate that some say mocks Oct. 7 attack on Israel
'We're reborn!' Gazans express joy at returning home to north
Have Dry, Sensitive Skin? You Need To Add These Gentle Skincare Products to Your Routine
San Francisco names street for Associated Press photographer who captured the iconic Iwo Jima photo