The arrest of LGBTQ activist Hunter Lee Darling, 24, and his friend Abby Nicole Thomas, 28, has sparked outrage from the gay alphabet crowd in the West Hollywood community.
Darling was arrested at the WeHo Pride festival on Saturday for robbery, vandalism, and battery stemming from an incident that took place in April.
While none of this had been confirmed or proven by law enforcement officers yet, many have come to the defense of Darling and Thomas by claiming their arrests were a result of ‘police homophobia’.
Video footage posted on Twitter shows Darling and Thomas being taken into custody as they voiced their claims against the Sheriff’s department.
— Jordan David (@jordandavidx) June 4, 2023
According to Jordan Davis who uploaded the video to Twitter: “The Sheriffs were making fun of the booth and the volunteers responded ‘This is why we don’t like cops at Pride’ The sheriffs then attacked them and are filing bogus charges.”
A fight broke out today outside of Saticoy Elementary in Los Angeles between supporters and opponents of the school’s LGBTQI2S+ Pride celebrations. pic.twitter.com/o6Zl58IxHl
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) June 2, 2023
The Los Angeles County Sheriff released a statement about Darling’s arrest warrant which stemmed from a cell phone robbery allegedly taking place during a protest at the West Hollywood library on April 19th.
They said that after identifying him later on May 31st, police saw him at “Pride Weekend” where he was promptly arrested for his charges.
As for Thomas’ involvement in all this situation, the Sheriff stated that she intervened when deputies attempted to take Darling into custody – resulting in her own arrest for “interfering and obstructing an arrest.”
A video quickly surfaced from Drag Queen Story Hour event which shows Darling stealing a man’s phone and then stomping on it.
Protest outside West Hollywood Library on April 15 during which Zodiac Rose allegedly stole and stomped a cell phone
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) June 4, 2023
A witness also claimed that police had multiple opportunities to apprehend Darling since he was present during another civil protest which turned violent outside Saticoy Elementary School in North Hollywood last Friday, however it wasn’t until hours into Saturday’s event that he asked officers not to make fun of their signs did they attempt an arrest then.
Darling has yet to be released, and bail was set to $100,000. Thomas was released Saturday evening, and both are expected to appear in court on June 6.
