SWAT Team Deployed to Arrest Man Who Spray-Painted Swastikas on LGBTQ Rainbow Crosswalk

Investigators identified the suspect and officers descended on his apartment around 12 pm on Friday.

The suspect refused to respond to police officers.

“When the suspect wouldn’t come out, Atlanta police SWAT teams were requested to come to the scene and continued to try to make attempts to contact the suspect,” WSB-TV reported.

“Roads in the area were blocked off as officers worked to get the man out safely.”

Around 5 pm, the suspect was arrested and taken into custody without incident, according to APD spokesperson TaSheena Brown.

Authorities did not reveal the identity of the suspect and it is unclear what charges he faces.

“When you have a swastika, when you have homophobic graffiti, of course, it’s a hate crime,” Schierbaum said.

“The motivation is to intimidate.

“The motivation is to spread hate, and this city doesn’t have any room for hate, and this police department doesn’t tolerate hate.”

A spokesman for Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens’ office thanked the city’s employees “for erasing the hate that has no place in our city in such a swift and efficient manner.”

The LGBTQ rainbow crosswalk was painted for the 2015 Pride festival.

The city of Atlanta made the LGBTQ rainbow crosswalk permanent as a memorial to the 49 victims of the deadly 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting.

The rainbow crosswalk represents “symbols of acceptance, unity, and tolerance representing the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community and its allies,” according to the organization that called for the creation of the painted street.