South Perry District hit by more anti-LGBTQ+ vandalism

Vandalism appearing to target the LGBTQ+ community is continuing in the South Perry District, and Spokane City Council candidate Paul Dillon is among those whose property has been defaced .

Dillon said he’s had four Pride flags stolen from his property since the summer, including two last week, and campaign signs in his yard have been slashed.

Dillon said the people behind the crimes are trying to harass and intimidate neighbors.

“It’s part of a larger concern of a coordinated attack on the neighborhood and specifically targeting the LGBTQ+ community,” he said.

The Odyssey Youth Movement, a LGBTQ+ youth center, and a rainbow crosswalk adjacent to it have been vandalized several times in the past month. Dillon said the rainbow-colored crosswalk was vandalized again Friday night. He sent a photo of the crosswalk with fresh paint markings on it Saturday.

Hours after Thursday’s “Pop-up Perry Pride” celebration, which was in response to the recent defacement and stolen flags, Dillon captured a vandal in the early morning hours of Friday on his porch’s Ring camera. He said he was feeding his 5-month-old daughter and heard footsteps coming to his porch.

On his surveillance footage, Dillon saw a person with a knife, other Pride flags he believed were stolen and a carton of eggs. The footage shows the person ripping the flag from his porch and running away. Dillon’s dogs can be heard barking in the background.

Dillon said his campaign signs were slashed and eggs were thrown at Odyssey and Wishing Tree Books that morning as well. Flags were also stolen from neighbors and businesses in the area.

“It’s just hard to not feel like the neighborhood is just under attack right now,” Dillon said.

Dillon said he has since proudly put his flag back up and hopes the vandals turn themselves into police.

“I think that the Perry District is a beautiful place,” he said. “This is our home and we are not backing down. We are here to support LGBTQ+ communities, businesses, organizations and our neighbors, and we are going to rally together to make this the safest, most inclusive neighborhood that we can and will not be pushed into the darkness.”

In a city of Spokane news release Saturday, City Council members Zack Zappone and Ryan Oelrich said they will move to suspend the rules during Monday’s council briefing session to introduce a resolution that reaffirms the city’s commitment to inclusion and belonging.

Following the request to suspend the rules, the council will vote on the resolution during the 6 p.m. legislative session, the release said.

“Everyone should feel like they belong in Spokane,” Zappone said in the release. “To be clear, vandalism targeting the LGBTQ community looks like a hate crime. Hate crimes are felonies. We need to hear from the Administration what they are doing to stop this immediately.”

Spokane police Cpl. Nick Briggs, a spokesman for the department, said the Perry District incidents are under investigation. Depending on the results of the investigation, the acts could be classified as hate crimes, he said in a text message Saturday.