Calgary police have laid a hate crime charge against a man accused of defacing a downtown Pride crosswalk.
Kevin James Gavel, 54, of Calgary allegedly wrote “Shoot a (gay person)” on a Stephen Avenue crosswalk around 8:30 a.m. on Sunday.
Gavel was charged with mischief after police interviewed him and is due in court on Oct. 1.
Police say there was enough evidence to support a hate bias motivation in laying the mischief charge. The case will proceed as a hate crime file, police said, adding it will be designated to a specialized crime Crown prosecutor.
The hate bias designation will contribute to the court proceedings, police said.
Gavel has a condition to not be within 500 metres of permanent Pride and trans flag crosswalks and the intersection of 8th Avenue and Centre Street, the location of the defaced crosswalk.
The condition was imposed to prevent a repetition of offences, police said.
Police are still investigating a second incident that occurred on Aug. 14 , when a man vandalized the same crosswalk. The two incidents are believed to be separate, police said.
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