Motorcycle Riders Defaced $30,000 Rainbow Pride Crosswalk, One Arrested But Not Facing Hate Crime Charges

At least 12 motorcyclists purposefully left dark skid marks on a brand new $30,000 rainbow crosswalk in an Albuquerque, New Mexico community. But residents and politicians are not having it.

The crosswalk was just revealed on Monday, in time for Gay Pride Month, and it was three times the cost of a typical white crosswalk.

But one man, in particular, has been arrested for his role in defacing the crosswalk, according to The Albuquerque Journal. The man spun his wheel on the crosswalk until it popped.

Anthony Morgan was arrested Tuesday and is charged with criminal damage to property over $1,000 in the incident, which happened last Wednesday. It is unclear if detectives are seeking any more members of the group and it doesn’t look like he will be facing hate crime charges.

City crews attempted to clean the damage but were unsuccessful in removing the damage and must replace the two damaged stripes altogether, costing another $1,700.

“To the vandals, I hope you got something out of it. But my message to you, is grow up… As an LGBT person, I do feel sad,” said New Mexico Senator Jacob Candelaria, who is the only openly gay member of the New Mexico legislature. “Little boys like that, who defaced that sidewalk they’re never going to take our pride away.”

“I can’t believe we can’t have anything nice,” Melvin Hanson, a resident in the community, told NBC News.

Hanson told NBC News he thought the crosswalk was a great addition to the city, “especially given the cultural significance of Morningside Park and what that means to Pride.”

Almost the entire event was caught on video. Both outraged witnesses and the criminals themselves filmed each other burning out on the sidewalk.

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