Police: Two teenage girls confessed to rainbow flag vandalism at Miles City church
Rev. Amber Dixson told the Daily Montanan on Monday the girls came to the church Saturday with their parents to confess to ripping the flag and bringing the sign before going to police. Dixson previously told the Daily Montanan the flag had been flying for several years without incident.
The confession comes as a wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation has passed around the country, and in Montana, along with anti-LGBTQ rhetoric from politicians that has corresponded with a rise in anti-LGBTQ hate crimes around the nation.
Dixson said the community came together to support the church in the aftermath of the vandalism with a brunch on the church lawn on Saturday, with about 70 people coming through all together.
“Just to take a stand to say this is not OK and we won’t put up with it,” she said. “It was humbling to see that response from the community.”
Dixson said the two high school-aged girls alongside their parents confessed following the event and seemed “genuinely remorseful.”
She said the girls didn’t say why they did it, but told her they came a couple of weeks earlier and stole the flag, but brought it back.
“They said ‘This time we did it for good,’” she said. “Everything leads me to believe that they were acting out against the openness that we show especially towards gays and lesbians in the community.”
Dixson said she didn’t think these girls fully realized the fear they sparked in people or how bad it really looked and felt to the community, and maybe just thought what they did was just a prank.
“I don’t know that they really understood the full weight of their actions. I think they probably do now.”
She said the parents present, especially a father to one of the girls, were angry and disappointed with the girls.
The father told the reverend they were willing to do whatever was needed for the church, like mowing the lawn, on top of paying for the flag to be replaced. She said the church was still deciding what they wanted to ask of the girls.
She said that the girls coming forward did bring some closure.
“It was a relief to know that there’s not going to be something else done – that it’s over for now, you know, this instance is over,” she said.
She said people reached out on Facebook and on the phone to express support.
“People would say things like – we may not agree, but we can agree to disagree,” she said. “And we don’t have to hurt each other in order to do that.”
“Seeing the response, it reinforces what I knew that Miles City is a good community and that we’ll support those in our community.”