San Francisco police have arrested a man accused of defacing the famed Pink Triangle, a symbol of LGBTQ+ rights that is installed annually during Pride Month on top of the city’s landmark Twin Peaks.
Police arrested the suspect after receiving a report around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday of someone vandalizing portions of the dozens of pieces of pink canvas that comprise the triangle.
“Officers pursued the male suspect on foot and detained him,” the San Francisco Police Department said in a statement. The suspect was arrested and identified as Lester Bamacajeronimo, 19, of San Francisco.
“Evidence of vandalism tools were located and seized. Charges are pending,” the statement said.
“This vandalism is unacceptable in our city and the San Francisco Police Department condemns this act,” the police statement said. “San Francisco’s Pink Triangle is a powerful symbol of our city’s commitment to supporting LGBT rights and commemorates victims of the past.”
The founder of the triangle project, Patrick Carney, told KRON-TV that the vandal spray-painted the triangle in lines “that go back and forth. … It damaged 26 of the tarps.”
Carney said a quick solution would likely involve getting some pink paint to cover up the vandalism. “However, that’s a temporary fix, and we’ll still have to throw those tarps away,” Carney told the news outlet.
Carney also told KRON-TV that anti-transgender stickers had been popping up near the triangle, and he and other community members have responded by covering them up with tape or scratching them out.
Carney and local officials celebrated the Pink Triangle’s 30th annual installation this year, which is held atop Twin Peaks — the second- and third-highest peaks in San Francisco. The giant installation can be seen across the city’s downtown, viewable from Market Street and the Castro District.
The triangle covers about one acre, and is made up of 175 tarps. It has been vandalized before, with “several pink canvas tarp pieces” having been set on fire, the Pink Triangle’s website says.
The 2009 incident involved vandals burning the center of the Pink Triangle, Carney told KGO-TV. It has also been graffitied a couple of times in the past, he told the TV station.
The Pink Triangle is “a tradition that transforms Twin Peaks into a beacon of pride for all of San Francisco,” Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a social media post after speaking at the unveiling of the triangle earlier this month.
The Pink Triangle, according to the installation’s website, commemorates “gay victims who were persecuted and killed in concentration camps in Nazi Germany.”
According to the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, “upwards of 15,000 gay men were sent to Nazi concentration camps” and “forced to wear a pink inverted triangle on their uniforms.” They were singled out for even more extreme persecution. “Sadly, 60% of gay men sent to concentration camps were killed.”
The pink triangle has since been reclaimed in the LGBTQ+ community and “serves as a reminder that we cannot allow history to repeat itself,” the center said.
On Tuesday, the mayor condemned the vandalism. “This hateful act of vandalism does not reflect San Francisco’s values and will not be tolerated,” Lurie said on social media.
State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) called the vandalism a “horrific attack on the LGBTQ community.”
“The Pink Triangle is a symbol of our community’s resilience in the face of hatred and violence,” Wiener said in a statement. “We’re not going anywhere, and no amount of vandalism or violence will change that.
“I’m so grateful for the many volunteers who make the Pink Triangle each year. Nothing will stop this community’s spirit, and I’m confident the Pink Triangle will be repaired and back in order quickly,” Wiener added.
The Pink Triangle will remain on display until June 29.
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