Video shows owner of St. Louis gay bar finding burning pride flags: ‘We were scared’
Two burning pride flags were placed outside Rehab Bar and Grill in St. Louis, but co-owner Kyle Hanten is determined to not let hate win.
“Let’s practice love, respect, and compassion for everyone. I, as so many others, hope you/persons find peace in life,” Hanten wrote on Facebook.
Monday’s karaoke night at Rehab was interrupted by a “plume of black smoke,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
“Everybody in the bar ran outside,” Hanten said, according to the newspaper. “And we just see the fire.”
Hanten jumped into action and put out the fire around midnight, KSDK reported.
A video posted to Hanten’s Facebook page shows a pair of singed rainbow pride flags in the alley behind the bar printed with the phrase “God is still speaking.” The video had been viewed 18,000 times as of Thursday afternoon.
“For whomever took the time to rip down these signs and set fire to them behind Rehab St. Louis, whatever message you may have been conveying is sadly lost,” Hanten wrote.
The banners are believed to have been stolen from the Kirkwood United Church of Christ which uses the banners as a “welcoming sign to the community,” the Post-Dispatch reported.
“We like to think that we’re safe here and comfortable, everyone is welcome,” Hanten said, according to KSDK. “It’s not as safe as everyone thinks it is. We’re kind of naïve in believing this stuff happens other places and it will never happen here.”
Still, Hanten warned against blaming “an entire group of people” for the incident, writing in a Facebook post that he “refuse(s) to trade one evil for another evil.”
“The only message we received was time was wasted, property was damaged, and you/persons have entirely too much time on your/their hands,” Hanten wrote on Facebook.
“They must not know Rehab,” one commenter wrote. “The next signs will be five times bigger and 50 feet in the air!”
St. Louis Police Department is reviewing surveillance footage from the church and the bar to identify the culprit, KSDK reported.
This story was originally published June 6, 2019 at 5:56 PM.