The next day, Pate came into the person’s dorm room and threw the Pride flag at them saying he was angry because someone had stolen his Christian flag off of his truck, according to the documents. The group discouraged Pate from enacting his plan, they told police. Pate is facing third-degree theft and malicious mischief charges related to the incident.Īn anonymous person told police Pate had mentioned his plan to steal the Pride flag to a group of people before he did it, according to a police report. Ryan Pate, 19, allegedly stole the flag on June 9 and set it on fire, recording his actions on social media. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.The teen suspected of stealing a Pride flag from the Central Washington University Student Union and Recreation Center and later burning it told police he stole the flag in retaliation for the earlier theft of his Christian flag from his truck, according to documents obtained by KHQ. A spokesperson replied, “No comment.”Ĭopyright 2022 Sunbeam Television Corp. Hoch stressed he’s not playing politics and pointed out the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council is nonpartisan, but he said the Republican Party needs to do what’s right.ħNews reached out to the Republican Party of Palm Beach County. “As for what the justice system does with this man, I just hope they apply the law as it’s written and let him suffer the consequences.” “I do not foresee this happening again,” said Hoch. They said Jerich will have to pay for it. Officials said repainting the crosswalk will cost $16,000. The city has since attempted to clean up the skid marks, but they were still visible on the crosswalk on Thursday night. “It’s not very comfortable, and I never know who’s going to say something, so I’m like, ‘Don’t be too obvious,’ because you never know who’s going to say something,” she said. Lukic, a visitor from Canada, said that as a gay woman just out walking with her girlfriend here, the video unfortunately does not surprise her. I would like to see the Republican Party take some responsibility for this,” said Hoch. “This police report has ‘Republican’ all over it. “It seems like the Republican Party has some responsibility in this.”Ī rally participant who was in front of the Chevy truck heard someone scream to Jerich, “Tear up that gay intersection,” according to the police report. “I saw that they actually passed out a parade route at the meeting, and all of the cars and trucks supporting the former president were to go through there and then went through the Pride crosswalk, and that’s when he committed the crime,” he said. Hoch said he blames the local Republican Party, which organized the Trump birthday rally. “It should never have happened at all,” said Hoch. Wow, it’s a very negative response, if you ask me,” said Michelle Gold.
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“They’re not liking the fact that somebody is outside of their comfort zone. You don’t need to ruin it, you know?” said Daniel Grogan.
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“If you don’t like it, just drive through it. I don’t think anyone should ever disrespect that,” said Emily Bott. Other residents who spoke with 7News feel the same way. When asked if the clip made her angry, Walko replied, “Yeah, of course. Walko said she and her girlfriend, Vesna Lukic, initially thought the skid marks may have been an accident, until they saw the video. I don’t know why anybody would want to ruin that.” I was working that day, and I came here during the parade to see what it was all about,” said resident Brittany Walko, “and there was so much joy, and everybody was smiling, everybody was having a good time. “Everybody that was here was having such a good time. The intersection was painted with the colors of the Pride flag. Just two days earlier, city officials had dedicated the Pride Streetscape. There are consequences when you commit crimes.”
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He’s going to have to reimburse them for that. I think it could be up to 15 years in jail,” he said. “He’s looking at some serious consequences. Retired Judge Rand Hoch, the president of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, weighed in on the arrest on Friday. Jerich faces several charges, including criminal mischief over $1,000, reckless driving and a felony enhancement of evidence of prejudice. The clip, which has since gone viral, shows the motorist intentionally doing a burnout across the intersection for 15 seconds and leaving skid marks.