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Footage Catches Person Setting Fire to Pride Flag in Lansing

Lansing Police Department (LPD) have issued a statement asking for the public to come forward after video footage captured on Michigan Avenue showed a man torching down an LGBTQ+ flag in the early hours of June 28.

In the video, captured by Monica Wright’s trail camera, a man wearing a baseball cap can be seen throwing flammable liquid at the rainbow flag, symbol of the LGBTQ+ community, before setting it on fire. The footage shows the flag as it instantly burst into flames and the man quickly left the scene.

Wright told Storyful that she had quietly attached one of her trail cameras to a municipal light pole to watch over the flag in the middle of the night. She said that the destruction of property had been an ongoing issue since the beginning of Pride Month 2022.

“Several of the flags have been sawed off, and the torching of the flag was something that we knew could happen, but never thought we would see.”

Witnesses told the police they saw a man wearing all black run from the scene, Wilx 10 reported, and LPD Chief Ellery Sosebee said they were seeking a fitting prosecution for the person responsible. Credit: Monica Wright via Storyful

Video transcript

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