A graduate of the Naval Academy in Maryland has been charged with a hate crime for stealing and desecrating a Pride flag outside a tattoo shop in Annapolis.
Benjamin Michael, 44, of Dallas, was charged in Anne Arundel County District Court on Friday with malicious destruction of property and a hate crime.
According to the owner of the “Dapper Dog Tattoo” shop located on Maryland Avenue in Annapolis, the pastel rainbow patterned flag hanging outside their shop was ripped off its post and thrown in the trash. Words on the rainbow flag read “Abide No Hatred,” a message based overall in antiracist and antihomophobic sentiments.
Early Friday morning, surveillance footage showed a man in a black, puffer-style vest walking toward the store at approximately 1 a.m.
Video recordings of the flag are what helped police identity Michael, who investigators said was in town for a Naval Academy football game.
Michael was seen “forcefully” ripping the flag off its post and placing it into a red trash can.
The tattoo shop owner, Charlie Garrett, told police this is the third time someone had intentionally removed the flag from its post without permission, and that’s why he put up cameras to protect the front of the store.
The Annapolis Police Department said Michael destroyed the flag because of what it represents.
In charging documents shared by the Office of the State’s Attorney for Anne Arundel County, police wrote Michael destroyed the flag because he was motivated “in substantial part by a group’s sexual orientation/sex/gender identity.”
In a post on Instagram, Dapper Dog Tattoo wrote, “We will always be a safe place for every human that walks through this door, no exceptions. We take being the friendliest shop very seriously and will stop at nothing to protect that.”
Michael is expected to appear in court, but as of Monday, a court date had not yet been set.
WTOP’s Ciara Wells contributed to this report.
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