Hate Crime Charges in Stonewall Monument Flag Desecration

Officers with the New York Police Department arrested a Colorado man on Tuesday in connection with vandalizing multiple Pride flags at the Stonewall National Monument during Pride Month in June.

Patrick Murphy, 25, was charged with a hate crime and criminal mischief for the incident, which occurred just after 3 a.m. on Thursday, June 15, at the Stonewall National Monument in Christopher Park. Police say Murphy and two other men were captured on video removing and destroying several transgender flags that were part of a display featuring 60 different Pride flags hanging on a fence at the monument. Part of the fence was also destroyed in the attack.

NYPD officials told the Patch the two other men seen in the video have not been arrested.

It was the second time in three months that Pride flags were vandalized in Manhattan. In May, a man was arrested and charged with burglary, trespassing, and multiple hate crime counts for an incident at Buceo 95’s eatery on April 15. Police say Fred Innocent, 41, entered the eatery around 1 a.m., defecated on a Pride flag in front of patrons, then used a second Pride flag to wipe clean his backside.

Patch reported Innocent lives in supported housing for New York residents suffering from “serious mental illness” issues.

Christopher Park where the attack occurred is across the street from the location of the famed Stonewall Inn and the site of the 1969 Stonewall Riots. The Stonewall Inn and Christopher Park were designated national monuments in 2016.