'Sad, but not surprised': New Waterdown rainbow crosswalk vandalized
A newly-painted crosswalk incorporating the Pride and trans flags in Waterdown has been vandalized.
The crosswalks at the entrance to Waterdown District High School, the Flamborough Family YMCA, Allan A. Greenleaf Elementary School at Parkside Drive and the adjacent Keewaydin Street intersection were painted by the city on the morning of May 13.
Social media posts indicate that by midnight the crosswalk at the entrance to the high school on Parkside Drive had been graffitied. However, the adjacent rainbow crosswalk at Keewaydin Street was not vandalized.
A city worker waiting at the scene with police told the Review Saturday morning they were awaiting a contractor to come and clean up the graffiti.
The crosswalks were initiated by Waterdown's Jennifer Valeri through the city's decorative crosswalk guideline. Valeri told the Review on May 14 that she is sad, but not surprised." While she expected the crosswalks might be vandalized and they had planned for maintenance costs, she did not think it would happen so soon.
I'm so grateful for how seriously Hamilton Police (are) taking this incident," she said. I know that love will win over hate, always."
The crosswalks grew out of an incident that saw a Pride flag belonging to Valeri's daughter Hannah, who is a member of the LGBTQ+ community, torn down at Valeri's Waterdown home in 2021 - which also sparked a community event where more than 250 Pride flags were handed out. Valeri then proposed the crosswalks and her family had decided to pay for the installation out of pocket, but after the flag event many people tried to give her money for the flags, so she asked them to instead put money toward the crosswalks.
Although Valeri had planned to host a reception for the community after the crosswalks were installed, an alleged hate-based incident at Allan A. Greenleaf Elementary School led her to cancel the event.
Hamilton Police Staff Sgt. Laura Wiltshire confirmed police are investigating the vandalism of the rainbow crosswalk overnight between May 13 and May 14.
Our officers and sergeant are out there now investigating," she said on May 14. Trying to gain information from witnesses and they're also checking the area for video surveillance as well to identify the suspect."
She said the incident is being investigated as mischief under $5,000 and as a hate crime.
Anyone with information on the incident should contact Det. Terence Cahill at 905-546-2377.
- with files from Julia Lovett-Squires.