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A rainbow crosswalk near Holland Park in Surrey, B.C., was vandalized over the weekend.<\/p>\n
It left city crews to power-wash off the spray-painted graffiti that 2SLGBTQ+ advocacy group Surrey Pride B.C. is calling an “act of hate.”<\/p>\n
In a video posted on social media on Saturday, a group of three men are seen spray-painting black lines over the sidewalk painted with the Intersex-Inclusive Pride flag colours.<\/p>\n
In a Facebook post, Surrey Pride B.C. said it is aware of the incident.<\/p>\n
“This is an act of hate and has been reported to the police and Mayor’s office,” said the post.<\/p>\n
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A rainbow crosswalk in Surrey was vandalized on Saturday, May 30, 2026. One of the men involved posted a video of the incident on Facebook. (Amrit Birring\/Facebook)<\/p>\n
Donald Crowe, the president of Surrey Pride, called the vandals “some radicals who don’t believe in trans children, who don’t believe in equal rights [and] who don’t believe in the justice system” in an interview.<\/p>\n
He said the rainbow crosswalk represents that the 2SLGBTQ+ community has rights and is visible.<\/p>\n
“It’s a violent act against the community that is a minority community in this area. And we stand tall and we will not be erased,” he said.<\/p>\n
“All it does is make us stand higher, speak louder, and let our voices be heard.”<\/p>\n
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Charles Crowe, the president of Surrey Pride, is seen pointing to the defaced rainbow crosswalk on June 1, 2026. (Martin Diotte\/CBC)<\/p>\n
Surrey Police Service (SPS) said officers were contacted before 4 p.m. PT Saturday.<\/p>\n
“There was a small protest taking place in the area and black paint was apparently sprayed on a Pride-themed crosswalk,” said Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton in a statement.<\/p>\n
Police have identified three “persons of interest,” according to Houghton.<\/p>\n
He said SPS has notified the hate crime unit of the incident but added it is premature to determine whether it is a hate crime.<\/p>\n
“We know who the individuals are … they know that we know who they are. And so there’s a strong likelihood that we’ll be following up with them again in the near future,” he told CBC News.<\/p>\n
Former candidate posts video<\/p>\n
Amrit Birring posted the video showing him and two other men spray-painting the crosswalk.<\/p>\n
Birring is the leader of the Freedom Party of B.C. He has run for various political positions in Surrey, including for MLA in the Surrey-Newton riding in 2024. <\/p>\n
He received 371 votes, representing 2.4 per cent of the vote, in that election.<\/p>\n
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The vandalism occurred on Saturday, police say. (Amelia John\/CBC)<\/p>\n
Another person in the video was identified as Errol Peters on social media.<\/p>\n
Peters’ account previously discussed running as as an Independent candidate in the Richmond-Queensborough riding in the 2024 provincial election \u2014 with a man called Errol Povah doing so that year. He received 258 votes, amounting to 1.31 per cent of the vote share.<\/p>\n
The Freedom Party, according to its website, has a platform to stop SOGI 123, provincial education resources on sexual orientation and gender identity.<\/p>\n