Vandal on camera takes down Pride, U.S. flags at John Swett School District office
RODEO – Officials at a school district in the East Bay expressed outrage after someone vandalized a flagpole flying both the LGBTQ pride and American flags late Monday night.
The incident took place sometime after 11 p.m. at the District Office of the John Swett Unified School District in Rodeo.
Superintendent Charles Miller told KPIX 5 that he found the flags on the ground when he arrived at district headquarters Tuesday morning.
"It is with a sad heart that I inform you a hate crime was committed in our District last night," Miller said in a message to the school community.
Hello All, It is with a sad heart that I inform you a hate crime was committed in our District last night. Attached is video footage of an individual cutting down our Pride flag last night. We have reported this crime to the Sheriff's office and are going public with this incident. Raising the Pride flag was driven by the voice of our students, supported by our teachers, and fostered by our Governing Board. We will not let prejudice and bigotry silence the voice of our children. Let your thoughts be known on this! Charles Miller, Ed. D. Superintendent
Posted by John Swett Unified School District on Tuesday, June 14, 2022
Surveillance video shows the suspect cutting down the rope used to hold up the flag before walking away. A few seconds later, he returns to the flagpole and pulls the rope to bring down the flag. Miller said the suspect hopped a fence to get to the flags
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"Raising the Pride flag was driven by the voice of our students, supported by our teachers, and fostered by our Governing Board. We will not let prejudice and bigotry silence the voice of our children," Miller went on to say.
The suspect in the video is seen wearing a dark colored shirt, shorts, a cap and a face covering.
Miller said the incident has been reported to the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office.
"We called the sheriff's office, they're investigating, they have leads. The video footage is crystal clear. We're going to figure out who this is," the superintendent told KPIX 5. "One of the things we do as school officials is we represent the voices of our students. We help them find their voice and we're not going to let this behavior silence them."
Monday's vandalism follows several incidents targeting the Bay Area's LGBTQ community in recent days and in the midst of Pride Month celebrations. On Saturday, a group of extremists believed to be members of the Proud Boys shouted homophobic and transphobic slurs during a story hour hosted by a drag queen at the San Lorenzo Public Library.
On Sunday, authorities searched the home of State Sen. Scott Wiener after the San Francisco Democrat, who is gay, received a death threat claiming there were explosives at his residence and office.
The latest incidents also come as San Francisco gears up to celebrate the first Pride parade since 2019.
District officials said it could take up to a week to get the flag pole repaired, but they do plan to raise the flags again.
The John Swett Unified School District serves the communities of Rodeo and Crockett.