Arrest made in Waterdown rainbow crosswalk vandalism
Hamilton Police have made an arrest related to the vandalism of the newly-painted rainbow crosswalk in Waterdown on May 13.
Police allege a male youth spray painted the newly installed crosswalk in the area of Keewaydin Street and Parkside Drive shortly before midnight on Friday, May 13. As a result of an investigation, police said a 17-year-old Hamilton male youth was arrested and charged with mischief under $5,000.
The charge has not been proven in court.
Police said as the charge is before the courts, no additional information will be released.
The crosswalk, which is one of two installed on opposite sides of the Keewaydin Street and Parkside Drive intersection on the morning of May 13, incorporates the Pride and trans flags. The City of Hamilton removed the spray painted graffiti on the crosswalk on Saturday, May 14.
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" at the vandalism. While she expected the crosswalks might be vandalized and they had planned for maintenance costs, she did not think it would happen so soon.
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.
The crosswalks were officially unveiled during a brief photo op May 19, with Valeri and her husband Steve, as well as dignitaries from the City of Hamilton, Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board and Hamilton Police.
Anyone with information they believe could assist police with the investigation are asked to contact Det. Fabiano Mendes of the Hamilton Police Hate Crime Unit at 905-546-5678. To report information anonymously call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or submit tips online at www.crimestoppershamilton.com.