Flags promoting Pride were set on fire overnight near downtown Silver Spring, Maryland, infuriating members of the community.
Mark Heare and Chris Middleton were asleep in their home when their dogs woke them up.
“By the time I came down, I didn’t see anybody,” Heare said. “I walked out the walk and didn’t see anybody. Went back in. Looked at the Ring video and said, ‘Oh, there was somebody here.’”
The video shows someone covering his face while lighting the couple’s Pride flag on fire before running away laughing.
Burn marks are visible on the door frame where the flag was attached.
As many as 10 Pride or Ukrainian flags were burned or vandalized on Mansfield Road, Wayne Place, Ellsworth Place, Greenbrier Drive, Pershing Drive and Deerfield Drive, Montgomery County police said.
“Most of what we’ve seen, or I’ve seen on list serve, is they were taken off and thrown in the yard,” Heare said. “One case I saw a picture where somebody took it off, burned it in the yard and then put it on their car.”
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“Crime has kind of increased in this area, but I’ve never seen anything directed towards a specific group, and this was pretty loud,” Middleton said.
At one home several blocks away, the vandals tried burning a Pride flag on a pole before taking it down and etching the letters “USSR.”
Montgomery County police have collected evidence from several homes.
“The people who did this have nothing but hate in their heart,” Montgomery County Council President Evan Glass said. “They targeted the Pride flag, they targeted the Ukrainian flag and they targeted lawn signs that promote diversity and inclusion and love. That is what this neighborhood celebrates. That’s why I live in this neighborhood.”
Glass said just Tuesday they formed an anti-hate task force to help people feel more included and safer in Montgomery County.
The Montgomery County Council issued a statement expressing outrage over these crimes.
The Council says hate crimes have been rising across the county in recent years. In 2021, 143 bias incidents were reported, which was the most in a decade, according to the Council. In 2022, that number rose to 157.
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