A man has been arrested after a rainbow-coloured Pride crosswalk was damaged by spray paint last week, the Surrey Police Service (SPS) says.
On May 30, police were called to the intersection of Old Yale Road and University Drive shortly before 4 p.m.
“Officers arrived on scene and located a rainbow-coloured pride crosswalk that had been spray-painted,” the SPS said.
Police say officers identified three people of interest after Amrit Birring, who is the leader of the Freedom Party of British Columbia, posted a video showing him and another man spraying black paint on the crosswalk, with a third man waving a placard.
Birring has unsuccessfully stood as a candidate in federal and provincial elections and for Surrey’s mayoralty.
He received 163 votes when he stood in the 2024 provincial election in Surrey-Newton.
The SPS has not specified which of the three men was arrested. The suspect has not been formally charged, but police say they expect a report to be forwarded to Crown Counsel for charge assessment “in the coming days.” He has been released under numerous conditions.
Surrey Pride denounced the vandalism.
“This is an act of hate and has been reported to the police and mayor’s office,” the group says in a Facebook post.
Anyone with information is asked to call the SPS non-emergency line at 604-599-0502 and refer to file 26-54029 (SP).
— With files from The Canadian Press
