THUNDER BAY – Police have charged a Thunder Bay man in connection with the theft of an Every Child Matters flag, saying the incident will be investigated as a potentially hate-motivated crime.
Officers laid a charge of theft under $5,000 against the 51-year-old Friday, the Thunder Bay Police Service said.
Police had appealed to the public for assistance in identifying a suspect last week, sharing photos of a man who apparently ripped down the flag from a Gore Street West property on the morning of Oct. 25.
The suspect was observed with two others, but the TBPS said Friday further charges in the incident were unlikely.
The case remains under review by the Community Inclusion Team as a potentially hate-motivated crime, which could impact sentencing.
The Every Child Matters flags are tied to Orange Shirt Day and meant to raise awareness of the legacy of residential schools on Indigenous people.
It’s part of a pattern of targeted vandalism, according to social media reports. Police have encouraged witnesses and victims in similar incidents to report them.
“The Thunder Bay Police Service is aware of conversations on social media discussing multiple incidents of vandalism in which signs or flags supporting the LGBTQ2S+ and Indigenous communities appear to have been targeted,” the force stated in a release last week.
“Most of these incidents appear to not be reported to police, so the TPBS would like to take this opportunity to strongly encourage anyone who is the victim of a crime to come forward so it can be formally and thoroughly investigated. “
