Suspects Arrested for Burning School Pride Flag ~Hate Crimes Skyrocket
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Two Ontario teens have been charged with mischief after allegedly tearing down a secondary school flag and setting it on fire. The act, which is being investigated as a hate crime, took place in the city of Markham around 11 pm on June 8.
York Regional Police have identified Sepehr Abadar and Mahan Mohammad Radmard, both 18, as the alleged perpetrators. “Two suspects attended the school, removed the Pride flag from its holder, ripped it and attempted to set it on fire,” a police press release states, adding that “Investigators believe the incident was hate-motivated.”
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“York Regional Police takes all hate-motivated incidents seriously and will not tolerate any form of hate crime. All reports of hate crime or hate/bias incidents are investigated thoroughly. Anyone who witnesses or has been the victim of a hate crime or hate/bias incident is encouraged to report it to police immediately.”
A statement from a local PFLAG chapter slammed the incident as an “attack on one of our community’s most sacred symbols.”
“Hate-motivated campaigns of discrimination have been emboldened over the last decade,” the group told Global News. “They are well-organized, well-funded and unfortunately, successful in their mandate to not only encourage bigoted thoughts, but encourage and promote hate-motivated incidents and hate crimes.”
The publication also cited statistics showing that hate crimes more than doubled in Ontario between 2020 and 2024, with 14% of them being motivated by sexual orientation.
The incident happened around the same time as two other acts of Pride-related vandalism at another Ontario school. On June 7, two suspects cut down the metal flagpole from which the Pride flag flew at Norwich’s Emily Stowe Public School and proceeded to steal the emblem of acceptance. A week earlier, on June 1, perpetrators removed the Pride flag and set it on fire.
“It’s every year, and it escalates every year, it gets worse,” Jeff, a Norwich resident, told CTV News. “Everybody’s entitled to their own beliefs and their own philosophies, but respect for one another and respect for other people’s property and public community property is important.”
Last year, Norwich endured four incidents of Pride flag theft or destruction, according to the Simcoe Reformer. Two of the incidents also took place at Emily Stowe Public School. There were also several Pride flag thefts reported in both 2022 and 2023.
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