Two men tore down a bar’s Pride flag just hours after it was hung and later returned to break a window with a rock, according to workers at O’Reilly’s Pub in Clintonville, Ohio.
Beth Rea, the pub’s manager, said she installed the flag for Pride Month that afternoon. “We are definitely a regulars bar,” she stated. “We are very close with our customers. We’re very accepting of everybody in here.”
Rea pointed to remnants of the flag still attached to the wall. “I stapled it here. You can see there’s still a little remnants,” she said.
At approximately 10:45 p.m., the men ripped down the flag and were confronted by customers, Rea reported. After driving away, they returned about five minutes later with rocks and threw one through a window.
“Luckily, nobody was sitting there,” Rea added. “It was concerning because we were worried about safety initially.”
The bar had other Pride Month decorations inside, including smaller flags and a sign reading “Pride Month.”
Rea described the incident as unsettling but emphasized they would not back down from their celebrations. “Absolutely not going to stop us from putting up our decorations,” she said. “We won’t let that intimidate us to the point that we can’t celebrate Pride.”
The bar shut down for the night and boarded up the window after the incident. Columbus police are investigating the vandalism and seeking the two suspects.
