Police arrest suspect in burning of Pride flag at New York gay bar

New York police said Wednesday they have made an arrest in the case of the burning of a Pride flag outside a Harlem gay bar.

“Your calls to @NYPDTips and the efforts of our @NYPDHateCrimes detectives have led to the identification and apprehension of the individual who burned the pride flag,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea tweeted Wednesday.

Your calls to @NYPDTips and the efforts of our @NYPDHateCrimes detectives have led to the identification and apprehension of the individual who burned the pride flag. #stophate. #SharedResponsibility pic.twitter.com/zkv7HgitUz

— Chief Dermot F. Shea (@NYPDDetectives) July 9, 2019

{mosads}Shea included an image of the suspect outside the Alibi Lounge but did not offer any further details about them.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced Tuesday that he had asked state authorities to investigate the incident, the second burning of the flag outside the club since May 31, as a possible hate crime. The NYPD had also been investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.

“I have to say that what I find odd was the timing of both events,” Alibi Lounge owner Alexi Minko told the Associated Press earlier this week. “One was at the beginning of Pride and one was right at the end. One has to wonder if there’s a kind of message they’re trying to send.”

The Alibi’s Twitter account thanked the NYPD’s hate crimes unit for apprehending the suspect.

Thank you @NYPDHateCrimes https://t.co/mNuqUzQd4u

— Alibi Lounge (@lounge_alibi) July 9, 2019

The incident comes shortly after the 50^th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, the result of an NYPD raid on a gay bar in Greenwich Village, a pivotal event in the history of the American LGBTQ rights movement. NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill apologized for the raid on behalf of the NYPD in June.