In 2014, Atlanta-based LGBTQ activist Robert Sepulveda, Jr. started a movement to paint a rainbow crosswalk in Atlanta. The city painted rainbow colors across the crosswalks at the intersection of 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue just in time for the 2015 pride festivities in Atlanta — which inexplicably don’t take place during Pride Month.
The crosswalk has its own website, and the LGBTQETC community in Atlanta treats the crosswalk as if it’s some sort of monument. Atlanta has the third-largest gay community among major U.S. cities, with Seattle having recently taken over the #2 spot. (Do better, Atlanta!)
“What we’d like you to know is that, this is not just an LGBT issue and these are not just painted crosswalks; The crosswalks themselves will bring the advancement of unity and awareness of human rights through public art,” the website crows. “We all know Atlanta is in the center of the Deep South with religion being at the core of many family bonds as well as very rural areas only minutes away from Midtown.”
Speaking of religion, the crosswalk has sacred meaning to the left in Atlanta. Anytime someone leaves tire marks on the precious crosswalks, the community goes up in arms. Nobody ran over an American flag or plowed into an old lady; it’s paint on asphalt! The reaction to any slight defacement of this holy grail of leftist virtue-signaling makes what happened last week more ridiculous than it should have been.
On August 17, a man painted a swastika on the rainbow crosswalk. In all seriousness, anytime someone defaces property with Nazi imagery, it’s a problem. But the City of Atlanta overreacted to it.
“Atlanta Police immediately notified the Mayor’s Office of the matter, then ATLDOT scrambled a crew—in the rain—to remove the disgusting act of vandalism from our street,” read a statement from Press Secretary Michael Smith. “We thank the women and men of ATLDOT and APD for erasing the hate that has no place in our city in a such a swift and efficient manner.”
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There’s no telling how long some of the potholes on city streets have gone unrepaired, but let’s get right on that rainbow crosswalk. In the rain, no less (because Lord knows we’ve had plenty of it in Georgia this month).
The Atlanta Police Department (APD) dispatched its LGBTQ Liaison Unit — no joke, it exists — to investigate.
APD investigators are asking for the public’s help to identify a person responsible for vandalizing the Rainbow Crosswalk in Midtown ATL. Investigators believe the same person is responsible for two incidents occured: 08/17/22 & 08/19/22. Call Crime Stoppers 404-577-TIPS (8477) pic.twitter.com/66QPZaJeOm
— Atlanta Police Department (@Atlanta_Police) August 19, 2022
It turns out the suspect had also painted similar symbols on the Atlanta Federal Reserve building, but who cares about that? The Rainbow Crosswalk was hate-crimed, you guys!
By Friday, APD had figured out who defaced the crosswal. Common sense would lead you to believe that the suspect was a crazed ultra-MAGA maniac, right? Sorry, the suspect turned out to be Jonah Sampson, a 30-year-old African-American male.
APD descended upon Sampson’s apartment, no doubt with the LGBT Liaison Unit in tow. When the man didn’t initially respond, police called in the SWAT team. After a nearly five-hour standoff, the man left his apartment without incident, and police took him into custody.
Atlanta has had a crime problem for years now, and it has only gotten worse in recent years. This year alone, according to the most recent crime stats, the city has seen 13,377 criminal acts. There’s no telling how many of these crimes are going unsolved and how many people aren’t getting justice. But you’d better believe APD sent the SWAT team after a man who spray-painted a symbol — albeit a terrible one — on an LGBT shrine.
It goes to show what the priorities are for law enforcement in a woke city like Atlanta.
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