Pride flags outside northeast Edmonton home burned and stolen
Several Pride flags were stolen or burned throughout this week at a northeast Edmonton home.
Joni Johnson told CTV News Edmonton she proudly displayed a Pride flag at the start of this week in front of her house to celebrate her daughter who recently came out.
“I took a picture of it, I sent it to her right away,” Johnson recalled. “I was very excited.”
Johnson said the flag was stolen from her home a few hours later.
“It literally was only there for hours and it was stolen.”
For her, the only reasonable thing to do was buy and place even more flags in her front yard.
“I put one back in the garden container where the original one was and I taped two together and I put them in the tree,” she said.
Then when Johnson stepped outside her home Tuesday morning the flags were not where she left them.
“That’s when I found the three flags I had put out were torn down, they were burned,” Johnson said.
She added that the sticks the flags were left on her front steps in the shape of the letter ‘F.’
When Johnson realized what had happened she said she was in complete shock.
“Completely unbelievable,” she shared. “It was devastating. I was in disbelief.”
Johnson reported the incidents to police and considered making an even bigger Pride display but ultimately reconsidered.
“I don’t want to escalate the hate and that’s what I was afraid of,” she told CTV News Edmonton. “I don’t want my neighbours to be a victim of that too.”
Johnson’s neighbour Anita Lakusta said she loved seeing support for Pride in the neighbourhood and that the incidents of vandalism left her feeling disappointed.
“It kinda left a yucky feeling in your stomach, because I mean we’re just here to support people in our community and lift those people up who have been historically and still to this day persecuted for loving people and just being themselves,” Lakusta said.
“That was a deliberate attack and it felt really personal and close to home,” she added. “It was actually kinda scary.”
To Johnson, the Pride flag is an important symbol of love and acceptance.
“To me, the Pride flag is not just a celebration of the community,” she said. “It’s a symbol of unconditional love and acceptance for everybody.”
Johnson said despite the incidents of vandalism, she will always have a Pride flag in her yard to support her daughter.
“No matter where you go in the world, you’re going to come across intolerance and hate but I wanted to let her know that you’re never going to find that here.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.