Pride flag outside Windsor man's home allegedly pulled down by group of youth

Pride flag pulled down A Pride flag outside a Windsor man's home was allegedly pulled down by group of pre-teens. CTV Windsor’s Sanjay Maru reports.

When Windsor resident Dale Burkholder stepped outside his home to check his mail this week, he noticed something odd about the flag pole that's attached to the porch.

It's normally upright with a Pride flag attached to it. But when he looked around a little longer Wednesday afternoon, he noticed the flag had been folded up neatly on his porch.

It turns out the neighbour across the street had left it that way after she allegedly observed a group of pre-teens stepping onto Burkholder's property, pulling his Pride flag off the pole and throwing it on the street.

The situation has been brought to the attention of Windsor police, according to Burkholder and the neighbour.

The allegation comes just days after the Greater Essex County District School board reported vandalism and theft of Pride flags at four public schools since they were raised last week.

For Burkholder, who has been living in his neighbourhood for 16 years and has been raising the Pride flag outside his home ever since, the flag's purpose is to show passersby that "we are everywhere."

"Even in a quiet neighbourhood like this, there are gay people — whether they're visible like I am or invisible like some of my neighbours are."

He said his Pride flag has never been torn down before, adding he's unhappy about the alleged incident but also "not surprised" by it.

"There's so many cases of vandalism against gay people, not necessarily here in Windsor, but around the world, I personally think it was just kids being kids and probably a bit of homophobia involved."

Sarah Paliwoda said she observed about "seven or eight" children, who appeared to be around 11 to 13 years old, step on to her neighbour's property on Wednesday between 12:55 p.m. and 1 p.m.

"They just started pulling it down," Paliwoda recalled, adding she even screamed at the kids to stop.

"I actually wasn't the only neighbor who witnessed it. There were a couple others who started yelling too, and our yelling actually only seemed to egg them on," she said.

According to Paliwoda, the kids ripped off the flag and bent the bracket that attaches it to the pole before running away in different directions.

"The one who actually ripped it off kept running with it and then, I don't know, he decided to drop it. He threw in the road right here. We were just kind of in shock that it happened."

Paliwoda said the neighbourhood is close-knit, leaving her feeling "personally violated" that someone she cares about could be attacked in this way.

In a statement to CTV News, Windsor police say they are investigating "a report of a theft involving a Pride flag" in the 1500 block of Dougall Avenue.

According to Const. Talya Natyshak, surveillance footage of the incident has been retreived and the offenders are "believed to be youths."

"This investigation is in its initial stages. Anyone with further information can contact the Windsor Police Service or Crime Stoppers to remain anonymous," said Natyshak.

Meanwhile, administration at nearby Queen Victoria Public School say they have worked with Burkholder to replace his Pride flag and pole.

"The GECDSB is aware of a police incident in the neighbourhood. As always, we are cooperating fully with their investigation.  We would direct you to the WPS for comments and details on their investigation," said Madeline McEachern, communications officer for the Greater-Essex County District School Board.

"We strongly condemn these harmful acts and maintain our commitment to creating safe schools where discrimination, harassment and hate will not be tolerated.