A concerned citizen made a 911 call on a balmy Wednesday evening in Spokane, Washington, at the beginning of June. Youths were committing a hateful act of vandalism, one for which they would shortly be arrested. The company whose product the young people used to commit the act of vandalism even released a statement, saying it “condemn[s] these vile acts in no uncertain terms. … It is disturbing to see the hate taking place in Spokane.”
What, you may ask, were these vagrants doing? Well, they were riding their Lime scooters over a rainbow-colored crosswalk and creating skid marks.
Yes, from the same state that brought you CHAZ, the illegal Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone of 2020, comes the new movement of “let’s criminalize teenagers for popping wheelies on our multicolored streets.”
So much for fighting the carceral state. That’s all well and good when it’s just public safety on the line. When the state religion is at risk, however, that’s another story.
Washington’s leaders take Pride Month very seriously, and so do virtue-signaling corporate executives. Two days after the incident, Lime released a statement saying, “Lime is proud to put time and resources into celebrating Pride Month each year and supporting LGBTQ+ organizations working to uplift and protect queer people in cities around the world. We will not let the hateful few spoil the joy of Pride Month in Spokane, and are grateful for those working to make Spokane more welcoming for all.”
To ensure that the company couldn’t get caught up in bad press again, Lime announced that the crosswalk would become a no-go zone, meaning that if a user drives his scooter over the crosswalk, it will involuntarily shut down.
Multiple arrests, an obsequious reaction from a multimillion-dollar company: This all seems like much ado for a few black marks on a crosswalk. Photos released by the city reveal comically minimal damage.
It’s true that the youths’ destruction was evidently intentional, and one reportedly called a witness a “f*****.” Is spewing slurs at passersby disrespectful and wrong? Sure. Does it warrant getting locked up on a $15,000 bond? Certainly not. (Fortunately, the 19-year-old for whom prosecutors requested the $15,000 was released without having to pay anything on the condition that he steer clear of the sacred crosswalk.)
Considering Spokane has one of the highest crime rates in the U.S., police could certainly find better ways to spend their time than arresting teenagers on scooters. What this incident reveals is that for many on the Left, “decarceration” is only a goal until it becomes inconvenient. The Biden Justice Department has no problem locking away a 75-year-old pro-life activist for protesting at an abortion clinic, for example. But when perpetrators are defacing a monument to an approved and celebrated set of beliefs, they better watch out.