Saturday, 12 October 2024

Pickup truck driver caught on video doing burnout on rainbow Pride crosswalk in West Virginia


Pickup truck driver caught on video doing burnout on rainbow Pride crosswalk in West Virginia Pickup truck driver caught on video doing burnout on rainbow Pride crosswalk in West Virginia

A pickup truck driver was caught on cellphone video doing a burnout on a rainbow Pride crosswalk in Huntington, West Virginia, earlier this week, WOWK-TV reported.

The station said Wednesday's incident occurred at the intersection of 4th Avenue and 10th Street; that crosswalk — along with a rainbow gemstone — was painted last weekend.

'It’s not a protest; it's bullcrap. People need to do better.”

You can view video here of the burnout taking place. The driver of the truck revved the engine, left what appears to be a single tire track over at least one of the crosswalk bars, and created a huge exhaust cloud in the process.

Huntington Police Chief Phil Watkins told WOWK that the department knows about the video and is investigating.

“Huntington Pride, a nonprofit organization, raised funds throughout the community to pay for the paint and hire the artist. However, the city will coordinate with Huntington Pride on any needed touch-ups of the art installation in the future," City of Huntington Communications Director Bryan Chambers told the station.

Ally Layman, president of Huntington Pride, told WCHS-TV that she is "not surprised. Typically folks within our community are bullied. I've been bullied since high school, so it’s not shocking.”

Layman also is a city council member and added to WCHS that "the jewel is every facet of every color, of every texture, or every component that combines our entire community, not just the LGBT community, but our community as a whole. Appalachians are resilient just like this jewel."

Resident Justin Murdock added to WCHS that "a lot of these people making these threats and doing these things, they don’t even go here, they’re from out of town. The people that actually live here, it’s a jewel that represents the Jewel City. We’re resilient, and so is this artwork. We’re just going to keep making it better.”

William Cummins noted to WCHS that he doesn't side with any particular community that takes a stand during Pride month: "People shouldn’t put their private lives right in front of everybody for any kind of movement. It’s private for a reason, but doing this was not right. It’s not right to have vandalized [the crosswalk]. It’s not a protest; it's bullcrap. People need to do better.”

In Spokane, Washington, earlier this month one adult and two minors were charged with felonies after riding scooters over a Pride crosswalk.

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