19-year-old charged with felony for vandalizing LGBTQ+ street mural by doing burnouts with his truck

A 19-year-old man turned himself in to Florida police after he was caught on video vandalizing a street mural celebrating the LGBTQ+ community and movement.

The Delray Beach Police Department released video of a truck driving through the rainbow intersection at Delray Beach on Feb. 4 at about 8:30 p.m.

Dylan Brewer of Clearwater surrendered himself to police on Monday and posted a $5,250 bond on charges of felony criminal mischief and reckless driving.

Police said they dedicated a lot of effort into solving the crime.

“Law enforcement actively worked the case for more than a week,” they said. “We received multiple reports from concerned citizens who witnessed Brewer engaging in these destructive acts. Several witnesses provided smartphone video of the crime.”

They described his behavior as “reckless action" that "caused significant damage to the streetscape painting, which serves as a symbol of unity and inclusivity for the LGBTQ community.”

Delray Beach Deputy Vice Mayor Rob Long said that the mural should be memorialized in order to increase the punishment against anyone who vandalizes it again.

"It's a message. It's a message of hate. It's a message of intolerance, and we need to have, I think more of a deterrent for that," said Long.

City officials said it would cost over $6,000 to repair the damage to the mural, and they hoped Brewer might be ordered to pay at least part of that. Activists were angry that the man was not being charged with a hate crime.

In a similar incident from 2021, another man pleaded guilty to vandalizing the mural and was sentenced to probation and community service. He had a large flag with the image of former President Donald Trump flying from his truck at the time.

Here's a news video of the incident:

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