Security footage allegedly showing Benjamin Michael.
A former marine and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy has been charged with a hate crime for ripping down a Pride flag outside an Annapolis, Maryland, business.
Dapper Dog Tattoo Shop owner Charlie Garrett reported the vandalism to police on the morning of Friday, November 15. According to the Associated Press, Garrett told police that this was the third time the Pride flag had been taken down, and he had previously installed a security camera. Video footage showed a man in a black puffer vest “forcefully” tearing down the flag at about 1 a.m. on Friday morning and throwing it in a nearby trash can.
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Dapper Dog posted images from the security footage on social media, and police identified the person in the video as Benjamin Michael of Dallas, Texas, after a server at a nearby restaurant came forward, telling investigators that she recognized the man in the video as someone she had served the night before.
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Local CBS affiliate WJZ News reported that Michael is a Naval Academy graduate and was in Annapolis for a November 16 football game. A Marine Corps spokesperson also confirmed to the Associated Press that Michael had served as a marine from 2004 to 2013.
In addition to the hate crime charge, Michael was charged with malicious destruction of property, both misdemeanors.
Michael’s attorney, Caroline Norman Frost, said that he “has no hate towards any person or protected class.”
“He certainly does not have any dislike or ill will towards the groups involved in this case, and this is a misunderstanding, and I think that that will all come to light when this case is complete with a disposition,” she said.
“The whole point is to spread positivity and show that we’re a safe space for everyone, so it’s kind of like, a little baffling,” Dapper Dog’s Garrett told WJZ of the repeated vandalism targeting his shop’s Pride flag.
“I wanted everybody out there to know that this kind of stuff is happening, and for there just to be an awareness and for people to have the courage to step up and say no, this isn’t cool,” Garrett added. “Having the flag, literally it’s to show people that this is a safe space, that it’s an all-inclusive shop for everyone.”
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