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Uhuru Movement: Burning of African flag with flamethrower was a targeted attack

Police have not classified it as a hate crime.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Uhuru Movement said the burning of the African flag with a flamethrower outside of its St. Petersburg headquarters was a "targeted, ideologically informed attack."

A video from the African People's Socialist Party, which leads the Uhuru Movement, shows a person on Saturday morning using a flamethrower to set fire to the red, black and green Pan-African flag flying on a pole outside the Uhuru House.

We have in: video footage of the person setting fire to the Red, Black and Green flag at the Uhuru House in St. Petersburg, FL.

Posted by African People's Socialist Party USA on Saturday, July 2, 2022

While St. Petersburg Police are investigating to find the person responsible, the organization held a press conference on Monday to share the Uhuru Movement's reaction.

Chimurenga Waller called it a "brazen white nationalist attempt to intimidate the African community." Despite the attack, he explained, the organization will push forward with its mission to fight colonialism and unite the African people for social justice.

Asked about the incident, a St. Petersburg Police Department spokesperson said the investigation was in its early stages, and the incident had not been classified as a hate crime – though that could happen later if deemed necessary. Based on preliminary information, police said the suspect appeared to be a Black person who did not appear to reference race, religion, sexuality or anything else at the time of the crime.

Akilé Anai, the media and communications director for the Uhuru Movement, explained that the Uhuru House has been a longstanding community center for the organization's meetings, events, offices and projects, like Uhuru Pies. So, "the basis of this attack is clear," she said.

Anai said they chose to hold this news conference on Independence Day to raise awareness of the fact that people celebrating the U.S. often fail to recognize that it is a "system born of slavery and colonialism."

She also spoke out against St. Pete police for investigating the flag burning as criminal mischief rather than arson. A spokesperson from the department told 10 Tampa Bay that it is labeled as criminal mischief "due to the low monetary value of the damage."

Jamie Simpson, the St. Pete chair for the Uhuru Solidarity Movement, called on the white community to recognize the significance of this event and choose to “stand by the Uhuru Movement and stand by the Uhuru House."

Anyone with information is asked to contact the St. Petersburg Police Department at 727-893-7780 or text SPPD plus your tip to TIP411.

You can watch the full news conference below.

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