‘No place for hate here.’ Community rallies to repaint vandalized Pride wall in Bellefonte
Affectionately referring to his business as “the Land of Misfit Toys,” Bryce Taylor believes in tolerance and inclusivity, but when his shop’s Pride wall was vandalized, he wasn’t surprised given the national events of the past week.
The owner of Jake’s Cards and Games installed the rainbow mural in June, with the goal of bringing inspiration to downtown Bellefonte. On Friday afternoon — two days after rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol — an employee notified Taylor that the painting had been defaced with propaganda from “Patriot Front,” a recognized hate group. Stickers with the text, “Not Stolen. Conquered,” were also posted throughout the borough and in State College.
“I laughed at it because that’s not who I am,” Taylor said. “That’s not who any of us are.”
Friday night, Taylor posted photos of the desecrated wall on Facebook. In a matter of hours, it had been shared more than 70 times, and dozens of Centre County residents were asking to help erase the damage.
“I felt that everybody needed to see it,” Taylor said. “It would’ve been easy just to cover it up, quietly make it go away, and it would be gone. But, I wanted everybody to see it because that’s how I think you know it’s real and that there really is something that you need to stand up to.”
More than 30 masked community members gathered outside the storefront Saturday afternoon to repaint the mural. Many said their motivation to push back against hate was strengthened after watching the violence that erupted Wednesday when thousands of rioters wreaked havoc in Washington.
Joined by her husband and two kids — ages 11 and 8 — Sarah Rochette said her family was motivated to help in an effort to push back against “pervasive hate” in the community and across the United States.
“Right now, our country is full of hate, and I thought it was important for us, especially to show our community members and our neighbors, that there’s no place for hate here — only room for love,” Rochette, a State College resident, said. “And we wanted to show that for our kids as well.”
Citing years of harmful rhetoric from President Donald Trump, Taylor said the insurrection — which resulted in five deaths — has left some feeling emboldened. Though the vandalism wasn’t surprising, Taylor said he was dazed and overwhelmed by how willing the community was to come together to demonstrate an act of love.
“This is what we needed,” Taylor said. “Bellefonte’s a very sleepy town. We’ve slept through most of COVID. We slept through Black Lives Matter. You never saw much of anything on the streets of Bellefonte. I think we needed this.”
Together, volunteers took turns painting the wall as Taylor announced reminders to keep a safe distance from each other.
Centre County Commissioner Mark Higgins was among those helping. Bellefonte Area School District board member Donna Smith also made an appearance — joining neighbors, local leaders, families and children.
“I know this racist hate group has vandalized property in State College Borough,” Higgins said. “What has happened is despicable. This is private property. There is nothing offensive about this (Pride) flag.”
Stickers from the hate group were found in at least 10 locations throughout State College Borough on Thursday. Two stickers were found in Bellefonte at the corner of High and Spring streets. One was placed on an electrical box just outside House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff’s office.
In a Facebook post, Bellefonte Borough Council President Joanne Tosti-Vasey said she forwarded images to local police. Borough Police Chief Shawn Weaver could not be reached for comment, and plans for an investigation have not been announced.
In State College, residents are asked to report any stickers around town via the online graffiti-reporting form, or by calling the borough at 234-7100. Code enforcement is recording the stickers’ locations and passing the information to the police, with the ultimate goal of identifying the individual(s) involved, a borough spokesperson told the CDT.
Within an hour Saturday afternoon, residents had covered up the damage, and the wall was restored — more vibrant than before.
“We cater to a lot of parts of the community that are really underserved, a lot of special needs kids, kids on the spectrum, LGBTQ kids,” Taylor said. “We’re not looking for attention. We’re not looking to kick up a bunch of dust. We just want to do what we enjoy.”
This story was originally published January 9, 2021 at 9:59 AM.
