Colorado neighborhood responds as man goes after Pride flags and people
One neighborhood in Northern Colorado is banding together as Pride flags continue to disappear, seemingly stolen by the same man over and over again. They believe the actions are designed to silence the LGBTQ community.
Sheryl Colaur is getting tired of it, "It's very unnerving."
A porch camera captures images of a man stealing Pride flags from a home in Longmont.
CBS
"He knows that our house puts out the flag. He knows what it represents."
She is proud to put out the LGBTQ+ Pride Flag. Three times, what she believes is the same man, has visited her home at night in the Harvest Junction Village neighborhood in Longmont to steal her flags. A man with clothing that covers him and with a concealed face has ripped their Pride flags down.
"It feels like an attack," she said about the thefts, which began Memorial Day Weekend.
She's not alone.
"It was a targeted attack. Every other flag, team flag, and American flags had all been left. It was just the Pride flags," said Mike MacFerrin.
The thief also stole a Pride flag from his front porch. The front porch light was on and his children were home.
"It's important to be strong as well, and the more of our neighbors that stand up strong to this, the stronger we are together," he said.
The Harvest Junction Village neighborhood in Longmont has been targeted by a man stealing Pride flags.
CBS
Law officers in Longmont on Tuesday were tallying how many reports of stolen flags have come in. They believe they are not aware of all of the incidents.
In a statement, Longmont Public Safety said, "We understand how upsetting the recent theft of flags has been for our community and continue to work with the neighborhood to gather evidence and statements related to these incidents. If you haven't yet filed a police report or have any information regarding those responsible for these thefts, please contact us at (303) 651-8501."
Colaur is concerned that the man is growing bolder.
"So I have kids. I worry about that, " she explains about the man's most recent effort, coming all the way up on her porch, where images of the individual with a facial covering were captured on camera. "It's making a move to put us away. To keep us out of the light."
There is a case file now after the man directed threats at homeowner Lindsey Bailey. She was in her garage working on her fledgling tomato plants when a man passed by on a scooter, a little after dark one night, and yelled at her. Her home is one of those with a flag displayed.
"They rode right by on their motor scooter, and just swore at me about how they hated pride month, and lots of expletives." Her husband, hearing the commotion, came out with a bat. The man turned around and came back, making another pass on the scooter, this time yelling at her husband.
"Threatening that they were going to harm him, that he would be back," she said. "He had taken my neighbor's pride flags, and he was coming back for mine, too," she recalled he said.
There is no way, as of yet, to tell where the man is from. Amid all of it the neighborhood has not splintered. Quite the opposite.
The Harvest Junction Village neighborhood in Longmont.
CBS
"It's a politically fraught time right now," said MacFerrin.
"It's no more or less likely to happen here than anywhere else. But it happened here and so we're responding."
He helped pull together an online fundraising campaign to replace the flags, rapidly raising money to buy about 70 more flags. No one he's aware of has complained about what they are doing.
"It was received very well. People did not like their neighbors being bullied. They wanted to stand up for them. They wanted to stand with them." And so some have added flags, while people wait to see if the man will be caught.
Colaur has been replacing flagpoles and flags.
"I'm three flagpoles in and no Pride flag to show for it," she said. But she'll keep doing it.
"Every time he steals a flag, I'm going to keep on putting a new flag up."
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