Police treating Karangahape Road rainbow crossing vandalism as a ‘hate crime’
Thursday, 28 March 2024
The rainbow crossing on Karangahape Road outside St Kevin’s Arcade was covered with white paint overnight Wednesday.
The paint was smeared along the road as commuters made their way through the city on Thursday morning.
It follows similar vandalism to a rainbow crossing in Gisborne earlier this week.
A rainbow crossing across Auckland’s iconic Karangahape Road has been painted white.
The white paint was smeared across the road outside St Kevin’s Arcade, a picture posted to Reddit around 4am showed.
Police said the “appalling act of vandalism happened at about 3.20am and we have done our best to minimise the damage”.
“A group of three people have poured paint on the rainbow crossing before leaving the area in a vehicle,” Inspector Grant Tetzlaff said.
They say they have now executed a search warrant on a Flat Bush property believed to be linked to the owners of the vehicle.
A number of items were seized in the search, however, the vehicle itself is yet to be located.
“We are calling on those responsible for this incident to come forward and speak with us.
“We are aware of the hurt and confusion from the community at what has occurred and we want to reassure the public we are committed to holding those involved to account,” Inspector Tetzlaff says.
“Police have no tolerance for reports of this nature, which appear to directly target a particular sector of our diverse community, and we are treating this as a hate crime.”
Police were reviewing CCTV video from the area and had released images of people, who had their faces concealed, they believe to have been involved as well as a car, which had its registration plates removed.
“We have no tolerance for reports of this nature, and when it appears to directly target a particular sector of our diverse community,” Tetzlaff said.
The car was ”a distinctive, high gloss grey or white colour, with black roof racks and mag wheels.”
It had been a rainy Wednesday night and the paint was wet at 7am on Thursday as commuters made their way through the city.
Auckland Central MP and Green’s co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said she was working to get it fixed.
“It’s sad and bizarre some people are spending their energy suppressing simple symbols of the visibility and pride of our - my - rainbow community. You can’t paint over our existence. Love always wins,” Swarbrick said.
'I’ve been in touch with constituents, local businesses and relevant authorities this morning and have been assured it’s being cleaned up urgently.“
Connor, who works in the hole-in-the-wall Coffix coffee shop next to the crossing said he didn’t understand why someone would do this.
“It’s going to cost the city to clean it up.
“It is a queer friendly place. Always has been, always is. You come out on Friday night and see all the freaks and it’s great. It’s perfect.”
Inner-city resident, Annemarie Friis, said it was “awful … to come into our neighbourhood and deface something that’s a big part of the neighbourhood“.
When asked how she felt when she heard about it this morning she said everyone in her building was “absolutely horrified”. “
“It’s like someone’s come into your home and defaced it.”
A second rainbow crossing closer to the Ponsonby end of Karangahape Road had not been touched.
“We are saddened and disappointed that people have wilfully damaged the rainbow crossing on Karangahape Road overnight,” Auckland Transport said in a statement.
“The crossing is an important part of the street that celebrates the rainbow community, and we will be seeing what can be done to remediate it as soon as possible.”
The vandalism follows similar damage to a rainbow crossing in Gisborne.
The Gisborne rainbow pedestrian crossing, which has been on Gladstone Rd since 2021, was painted over by Destiny Church members on Monday.
The group was protesting a drag queen story time for over-16s at the HB Williams Memorial Library on Tuesday afternoon.
The crossing was restored overnight on Wednesday.
But on Wednesday afternoon, paint can-wielding protesters returned to the crossing and blocked the road, police said in a statement.
On Thursday morning, Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki didn’t take responsibility for the Auckland rainbow crossing vandalism but said whoever did do it had “obviously had enough”.
“The painters have dared to go into the heart of the gay community on K Road to make a statement,“ Tamaki wrote in a statement shared to media.
“This is only the beginning. We now see the depth of frustration amongst Kiwis who have had enough of rainbow this, rainbow that… it's rammed down our throats… and it’s gone too far.”
“It’s also time to call out NZTA. They should have taken action against the Wellington City Council when they illegally installed a rainbow crossing… now many councils have followed suit.”