SPOKANE, Wash. — On Saturday morning, the pride flag painted on the sidewalk of south Perry Street was found covered in graffiti.
“One of my colleagues was here at the office… gave me a call, noticed something was up…and found the graffiti and tagging all the way across the crosswalk,” Ian Sullivan, the Executive Director of Odyssey Youth Movement, said.
Odyssey Youth Movement is an organization that promotes equity for LGBTQ+ youth, ages 13 to 24. The organization has been in Spokane for 30 years.
The pride mural was painted on the crosswalk in front of the organization’s South Perry District location.
“To have something like this targeted in this way very much feels like an attempt to scare and intimidate the entire LGBTQ community. And of course, also concerning because it is literally right outside our door,” Sullivan said.
It’s unclear what exactly is spray painted– if it is words or markings.
The only thing that could be fully made out was the word “NO” and arrows pointing towards the crosswalk.
Recently, NonStop Local spoke with leaders at the Spokane NAACP branch regarding instances of hateful graffiti messages targeting the Black community appearing in the Spokane area.
The NAACP said hate crimes have been on the rise recently, and it is becoming more brazen.
“It’s been here, under the surface the entire time. And, it’s resurging itself,” Kurtis Robinson, the President of the Spokane NAACP, said.
Odyssey Youth Movement has reported the vandalism to Crime Check and plans to work on cleaning up the graffiti in the coming days.
