A Florida man was arrested after reportedly ripping down a Pride flag at a Starbucks and demanding that staff replace it with the American flag.
Police say 31‑year‑old Tucker Alden Kemp entered the St Petersburg café and told the manager the Pride flag was “offensive” and should be swapped for the Stars and Stripes. When staff explained it was store policy to display the Pride flag, Kemp allegedly threw tea on the flag, tore it from the wall and tossed it into a rubbish bin, according to an arrest affidavit.
Kemp was taken into custody and held in the Pinellas County Jail for six hours before being released on a $500 bond. He faces a charge of criminal mischief, a misdemeanour. Local outlets report the incident caused at least US$210 of damage to the wall and the flag.
Court and employment records cited by The Smoking Gun say Kemp — a father — is a registered Republican and works as a sales manager for a funeral‑home chain.
Hate vandalism on the rise
Anti‑LGBTQ+ vandalism and property‑damage hate crimes have become increasingly common across the United States. FBI statistics show vandalism motivated by anti‑LGBTQ+ bias is the most frequently reported offence type in that category, with at least 160 reported acts of vandalism over the past year — ahead of 154 reported assaults.
Florida has emerged as a flashpoint for anti‑LGBTQ+ rhetoric and policy in recent months, in part due to the actions of state leaders. The Florida Department of Transportation has removed several rainbow crosswalks in Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Boynton Beach and Key West, citing concerns the artworks conveyed “social, political or ideological messages.” After officials removed a crosswalk dedicated to the 2016 Pulse nightclub victims, local activists returned with chalk to colour it back in. Survivor Brandon Wolf called the removal “cowardly,” saying: “A memorial to my dead brothers isn’t political. But your cowardly, dead‑of‑night erasure of it sure is.”
