Pride flags in Boise North End stolen again — for 3rd year in a row. Police investigate
In what is becoming a yearly occurrence, the colorful Boise Pride flags on Harrison Boulevard throughout June have been stolen for the third year in a row.
The Boise Police Department is investigating two reports of stolen Pride flags in Boise’s North End neighborhood, spokesperson Haley Williams told the Idaho Statesman by email. Williams said a total of 23 flags were stolen, and two were “torn up and left on the ground.”
Police said that the first incident was on Thursday, in which 12 flags were stolen and two were damaged. Then early Friday 11 flags were stolen.
“In addition to working to find the people responsible and hold them accountable, the Boise Police Department will also be working with the city, neighbors, and the Pride Foundation to identify ways to prevent further vandalism and theft in the area,” Boise Police Capt. Mike Ruffalo, who leads the department’s Community Outreach Division, said in a statement provided to the Statesman.
The flags, which are owned by the Pride Foundation, are placed on Harrison Boulevard in coordination with the North End Neighborhood Association every June to celebrate Pride Month, a celebration and remembrance to honor those who fought for LGBTQ+ rights during the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in New York City.
Williams said that as a part of the investigation, neighbors with surveillance cameras are being asked to review footage. Anyone with additional footage or information is asked to call the Ada County Dispatch at (208) 377-6790.
Last year, 35 flags were missing or damaged less than 10 days into Pride Month, Boise police said in a news release at the time. But the flags were quickly replaced after an anonymous donor covered the costs of new flags and volunteers helped decorate the street again.
“Our officers will not tolerate any crime that targets or makes someone feel targeted because of who they are or who they choose to love,” Boise Police Deputy Chief Tammany Brooks said in last year’s release.
In 2021, over 20 flags were stolen from Harrison Boulevard, and an 18-year-old was arrested and sentenced to 10 days in jail, the Statesman previously reported.
This year’s theft comes within days of Oregon resident Matthew Lehigh entering a plea deal at Boise’s federal courthouse and admitting to several hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community, including two vehicle assaults within days of each other in October, according to prior Statesman reporting.
Lehigh also admitted to setting a Pride flag on fire, breaking windows at an LGBTQ+ community center and punching a man in the face while calling him a slur. He can’t be convicted of those crimes because federal prosecutors charged him only the two vehicular assaults. Ada County prosecutors dropped the initial local charges against him.