West Vancouver Police accused a man of carrying out a “gesture of hate” for ‘defacing’ a rainbow-colored gay pride crosswalk after he left tire marks on the road.
“On July 7, 2020 at 4:04 pm staff inside the police station heard a loud and sustained tire squealing outside,” according to the West Vancouver Police website. “When officers took a closer look, they discovered that someone had just left tire marks across a portion of the crosswalk, at the intersection of 16th St and Esquimalt Ave.”
The man then left the area at high speed but has since been identified by authorities.
“This is very upsetting,” said Cst. Kevin Goodmurphy. “For whatever reason, this person has chosen to leave a gesture of hate on a crosswalk that stands for the exact opposite.”
Investigators would like to speak with the driver responsible for defacing a recently installed Pride crosswalk at 16th St. and Esquimalt Ave. If you have information, please call 604-925-7300. https://t.co/ywkNR4DMAv pic.twitter.com/ViW0ZxcxYN
— West Vancouver PD (@WestVanPolice) July 8, 2020
The “gesture of hate” is a tire skid mark that covers part of the crosswalk but is by no means substantial.
Respondents to the tweet questioned whether West Vancouver Police should be concentrating on finding more dangerous criminals than those who leave tire marks on the road.
“If you look closely, there are hardly any skid marks on the white stripe. This driver must have been homophobic AND a white supremacist,” joked one respondent.
If you look closely, there are hardly any skid marks on the white stripe. This driver must have been homophobic AND a white supremacist.
— Caturman (@Caturman) July 9, 2020
“Have you started an investigation into yourselves for having the nerve to stand on it?” asked another.
https://twitter.com/TheRealMeans/status/1281270748527681539?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1281270748527681539%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.infowars.com%2Fwest-vancouver-police-driver-carried-out-gesture-of-hate-for-skidding-on-pride-crosswalk%2F
“I understand that Vancouver has no serious crime and needs to classify a traffic violation as a hate-crime to make the job of the police more interesting before it gets defunded, or is this business as usual for Canadian police?” commented another Twitter user.
https://twitter.com/OfehrmediaPress/status/1281271311667539970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1281271311667539970%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.infowars.com%2Fwest-vancouver-police-driver-carried-out-gesture-of-hate-for-skidding-on-pride-crosswalk%2F
It remains to be seen whether the culprit will be charged with a hate crime.
