Bell and other motorists turned around to drive back towards Picton, only to find another swathe of highway covered in muddy water, just south of the Para Wetland. “Two cars tried to cross and got stuck in the water. Nobody else was keen to give it a go, and one of the cars that got stuck was a four-wheel-drive, so we weren’t going to try,” Bell said. The floodwaters were higher than the bottom of the 4WD’s door, its occupants found when they opened it to get out, Bell said. “They should have just climbed out the window, really.
Connecticut Coffee Shop s Pride Flag Burned, Left at Front Door
The incident isn t the first time LGBTQ+ flags have been targeted in the area. April 10 2021 3:00 AM EDT
A coffee shop in Bethel, Conn., a picturesque town 70 miles north of New York City, was vandalized last weekend when its Pride flag was torn down, burned, and dropped at the front door of the business.
Patch, local police are looking for two people who were caught on surveillance video burning the rainbow flag which hung in front of Molten Java Café. The video also shows one of the perpetrators returning to leave the burnt remnants of the flag by the front door, where the coffee shop s owner, Wendy Cahill, found the flag last Sunday morning and alerted police.
This felt somehow much more personal than I experienced in a really long time and I cried, said Wendy Cahill, the owner of Molten Java. We want to create a community of people who are happy coming in.
Cahill is a member of the LGBQ+ community and believes the shop is the perfect environment for people who want to be themselves and relax.
Marissa Amundsen is a barista at the coffee shop and found out what happened after her coworker discovered the flag just minutes before she came in for her shift on Sunday. I saw it behind the counter and thought what happened and it didn t cross my mind that it was something born of hate, said Amundsen. It blows my mind especially in this day in age, you would think people would be past it.
“It had a purpose to it, to intimidate a person who is displaying their respect for all people’s rights. It’s a very poor reflection on the people who did this.”
The Bethel CT Pride organisation issued a statement describing the vandalism as a “heinous, hateful act”.
Molten Java Cafe’s flag was a “beacon of inclusivity and community that flew outside of the space,” they said, making it a safe haven to the LGBT+ community before the local Pride group was formed.
Out state representative Raghib Allie-Brennan described the incident as a hate crime and said it was “heartbreaking” to hear of such things happening in Bethel.
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