Pulse Crosswalk vandalized – Surveillance Camera Screenshots
A rainbow crosswalk mural in Delray Beach, Florida — dedicated to the LGBTQ victims of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting — was vandalized for the third time on June 17, when a man in a black pickup truck was caught on camera intentionally leaving tire marks across the paint.
Surveillance footage released by Delray Beach Police shows the driver waiting for another car to pass before spinning his wheels and speeding off, leaving black burn marks on the mural and surrounding rainbow crosswalks.
The video, released by Delray Beach Police, also shows the same truck returning to the intersection later and performing another burnout, continuing across the full length of the intersection.
The driver has not been identified, as the footage does not capture a clear view of the truck’s license plate, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
The driver appears to be a man wearing glasses, according to Fort Pierce-based CW affiliate WTVX. Anyone with information is asked to call 1-888-441-8477.
Unveiled in 2021, the intersection was dedicated to the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, which left 49 people dead and 53 others injured. It has been vandalized at least twice before, with previous drivers deliberately performing burnouts on the mural or its surrounding crosswalks.
Just one day after it was unveiled in June 2021, the mural was defaced by 19-year-old Alexander Jerich, who was part of a “President Trump Birthday Rally” convoy celebrating the former president’s 75th birthday. Other participants filmed the vandalism and cheered as Jerich damaged the mural.
Jerich was initially charged with a third-degree felony, but later pleaded guilty to criminal mischief and reckless driving. In June 2022, he was sentenced to 100 hours of community service, two years of probation, and a mandatory mental health screening as part of a plea deal that allowed him to avoid jail time.
A Palm Beach judge canceled his probation in December 2023.
In February 2024, Dylan Brewer, 19, of Clearwater, Florida, performed burnouts on the intersection three times — all of which were caught on video by onlookers. He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of criminal mischief as part of a plea deal.
Brewer was sentenced to a year of probation, had his license suspended, was ordered to pay nearly $6,000 in restitution, perform 75 hours of community service, and attend anger management classes.
Rand Hoch, president of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, noted that the mural and crosswalks had been freshly repainted just before Pride festivities — and before the most recent vandalism.
“These are extremely hateful people that want to make a statement that they don’t agree with LGBTQ+ people being around,” Hoch told WTVX of the repeated incidents. “They have no regard for the people who could be in that intersection. They just want to make a hateful statement — again and again and again.”
The latest incident occurred just weeks before U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy called on all governors to remove crosswalk art — particularly those featuring Pride themes — claiming such artwork could be a “distraction” and lead to traffic fatalities.
“Taxpayers expect their dollars to fund safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks,” Duffy posted on social media. “Political banners have no place on public roads.”
Despite Duffy’s claims, the Delray mural and crosswalks were not funded by taxpayers. They were paid for by the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council Charitable Foundation and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which contributed $16,000 to install the artwork.
In response to Duffy’s directive, several South Florida cities have begun removing rainbow crosswalks. In Boynton Beach, a mural featuring the Progress Pride flag was taken down — the same mural that was vandalized in 2023 when a motorcyclist left tire marks across it.
Another Pride mural in Fort Lauderdale was also targeted in 2023, when a truck driver performed burnouts while a passenger recorded the act. Police have not identified the driver. It remains unclear whether the Fort Lauderdale mural — or other rainbow-themed street art across Florida — will be removed, or if local officials will push back against Duffy’s directive.
Judi Fike, a Republican councilwoman in Groveland, Florida, has been reinstated to her seat after fellow council members suspended her over offensive social media posts targeting Black and LGBTQ communities. Fike, who was appointed in October 2024 to represent the city’s District 4, has filed a lawsuit challenging the suspension.
Fike’s attorney, Lake County Commissioner Anthony Sabatini -- a two-time congressional candidate with a history of pushing anti-LGBTQ legislation -- told the Orlando Sentinel that Fike was reinstated following a preliminary hearing on July 16.
Pop star gushes over romance with Big Brother co-star Chris Hughes while saying she felt pressured to identify as a lesbian — fueling right-wing backlash.
Last weekend, queer pop star JoJo Siwa abruptly canceled her upcoming performance at a Chicago Pride event scheduled for Sunday, June 29.
Back Lot Bash Chicago, host of the two-day outdoor event, announced on Instagram that Siwa would no longer be performing, citing a "scheduling conflict," according to the Daily Mail.
No further explanation was given for the cancellation.
Siwa, 22, recently released her latest single, "Bulletproof," independently after parting ways with Columbia Records, which had issued her 2022 EP Guilty Pleasure. Neither she nor the label commented on the split.
A fundamentalist church in Indianapolis is defending a June 29 sermon in which a lay preacher urged congregants to pray for LGBTQ people to die and suggested they kill themselves.
The remarks, delivered by Stephen Falco during a “Men’s Preaching Night” at Sure Foundation Baptist Church, included multiple homophobic slurs, biblical references, and rants against Pride Month, LGBTQ rights, and what he called “disgusting” and “evil” behavior, according to TheIndianapolis Star.
"Why do I hate sodomites, why do I hate f****ts? Because they attack children," Falco ranted in the sermon, video of which was posted to Sure Foundation Baptist Church's YouTube channel. "They're coming after your children, they are attacking them in schools today, and not only schools, in public places, and they're proud about it!
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