Pizzeria employee hospitalized after homophobic mob attacked restaurant over Pride flag

Police in Roseville, California, continue to search for three hate crime suspects who allegedly assaulted workers at a Blaze Pizza restaurant after one of the suspects tore down a Pride flag on display. Video of the assault was captured on a smartphone camera.

The incident occurred when a food delivery driver walked into the restaurant at 10:50 p.m. on a Thursday, saw the flag displayed near the register, grabbed it, and threw it to the ground. When the store manager and employees confronted the man, he allegedly said a homophobic slur and then walked out. He later returned with two other men who then began fighting the restaurant employees.

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Haters yelled obscenties, sent a threatening letter, and vandalized their Pride flag and political signs. But the reaction has emboldened the targeted men.

A witness named Chance Chacon told KCRA that the manager and employee had defended the flag’s display, but then, when the three assailants returned, “It was like a mob. They were just kind of swinging at him.”

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“I was kind of scared too,” Chacon told KYMA, “because you never know, like, if someone has a gun or if someone has weapons or anything.”

LAWLESS SOCIETY NEWS ⚠️ 3 males got into an altercation and attacked employees over a pride flag last night at Blaze Pizza off Fairway Drive in Roseville, California.#RosevilleCA #PrideFlag #BlazePizza #HateCrime #BreakingNews #LocalNews #FairwayDrive #CaliforniaNews… pic.twitter.com/SWvVXA7SWf

— Kristy Tallman (@KristyTallman) September 21, 2024

A video of the incident taken from inside the restaurant shows one worker repeatedly telling the assailants, “Get the f**k out of here!” while another tells a co-worker, “Call the cops.”

The three men fled before police arrived at the scene. However, an ambulance later came to take one of the employees away on a stretcher. The employee was taken to the hospital and briefly hospitalized with a concussion and head trauma. The employee has since been released.

A still image taken from one video footage shows a shoeless, light-skinned suspect wearing a torn dark-colored t-shirt and hand wraps sometimes worn for mixed martial arts fighting.

Police have asked for the public’s help in identifying the assailants involved in the September 20 incident. Anyone with information can submit an anonymous tip online or contact their non-emergency line at 916-774-5000.

Any update on the @BlazePizza hate crime? pic.twitter.com/TSjyNWBg73

— Cesar  (@CE_2099) September 26, 2024

Ruby Shields, a lesbian who owns a restaurant in the nearby town of Granite Bay, told The Sacramento Bee that she doesn’t consider the area LGBTQ+ friendly. She has been too scared to display a rainbow flag at her own restaurant, and is often mistaken as the wife of her male business partner, even though she has a wife.

“We’ve been looked at with respect, but it’s always on the back of your mind, you know, ‘Should I be saying this?’” Shields said of not knowing whether to come out to restaurant patrons. “It’s not even something that I really even want to put out there because you never know. I mean, it’s horrible that it’s so close to home. Roseville is right down the street from where we’re at.”

This wouldn’t be the first time that an anti-LGBTQ+ person has committed violence in California after tearing down a Pride flag. Last August, Travis Ikeguchi — a 27-year-old man who posted anti-LGBTQ+, antisemitic, anti-vaccination Christian Nationalist content online — murdered Laura Ann Carleton, a 66-year-old LGBTQ+ ally and mother of nine, complained about the Pride flag hanging in front of her Cedar Glen, California business.

Police killed Ikeguchi shortly afterward.

Paul Feig — the director of Bridesmaids, Ghostbusters (2016), and other films — wrote, “We are all devastated for her husband Bort and her family and the LGBTQ+ community, for whom Lauri was such a true ally…. This intolerance has to end. Anyone using hateful language against the LGBTQ+ community has to realize their words matter, that their words can inspire violence against innocent loving people. Let’s all keep moving forward with tolerance and love. Let’s not let Lauri’s tragic death be in vain.”

Carleton’s friend, director Paul Feig, wrote of the incident, “Lauri Carleton was my friend. She was a wonderful person who did so much for the LGBTQ+ community as well as the community at large. What happened to her is an absolute tragedy. If people don’t think anti-gay & trans rhetoric isn’t dangerous, think again.”

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