New York City police are searching for a hate crime suspect after surveillance video captured a man defecating on a LGBTQ pride flag outside of a Manhattan restaurant earlier this month.
Video shared with the New York Post showed the suspect relieving himself on a flag he placed on the ground in the outdoor patio area of Buceo 95’s on April 15. The man then drew a smiley face in the pile of waste, according to the Post, and used a second pride flag to wipe himself.
The man left the area immediately afterward. No one was physically hurt during the incident.
“It’s definitely a punch to the gut,” general manager Nathan Nolen Edwards told the newspaper. “We certainly haven’t experienced anything to this degree. A defecation on a pride flag is not the norm here.”
Restaurant owner Courtney Barroll also said the incident “angered me that people in this world have such hatred for others that they could do something so awful and so vile.”
Police are looking for a suspect who has dark skin that stands about 5‘9” and was last seen wearing a black hat, dark-colored jacket, light-colored pants, one dark-colored sneaker as well as one white sneaker.
