A Yellowknife resident feels “exasperated” and unsafe after finding homophobic slurs painted on their front door.
Jake Flanagan, who has lived in the city for 25 years, said this was the second time they had been forced to scrub off what they termed “poorly done” graffiti outside their house. The first occasion, they said, was in November 2021.
Flanagan expressed dismay at “the fact that someone would take time out of their night to come to my house specifically to deface my door, again.”
“I definitely feel unsafe due to this,” they said.
Cpl Matt Halstead, an RCMP spokesperson, said police were aware of a Facebook post about “hateful graffiti” on a Yellowknife front door but the matter had not been directly reported to RCMP.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
Flanagan said they filed no report as, without much evidence, there would be little means of finding the culprit.
RCMP in Yellowknife do keep a record of “mischief to property motivated by hate,” Halstead said by email, which includes graffiti.
Citing sections of the Canadian criminal code that cover advocating genocide, publicly inciting hatred and wilfully promoting hatred, Halstead said: “We have not had charges laid under these sections this year.”
Halstead said police had, however, laid one charge this year “related to an incident where the allegations include threats being made alongside racial slurs.”
Within hours of Flanagan sharing a photo of the graffiti online (note: the link contains an image of the door, including the slurs in question), multiple residents had offered to help clean the door.
“Thanks to some helping hands, my door is clean and nonsense-free,” they later wrote, telling Cabin Radio: “A nice lady and her kids came and helped me finish it up.”
