Watsonville's Cabrillo College Campus Pride Flag Burned: Report

WATSONVILLE, CA — An LGBTQ Pride flag flying at Cabrillo College's Watsonville Campus was found burned on March 5 in an act of vandalism, The Pajaronian reported.

“This is deeply upsetting and we take this matter very seriously, as the second act of vandalism and hate to occur on Cabrillo’s campus within the past two weeks,” Cabrillo President Matt Wetstein told the newspaper.

According to The Pajaronian, a week prior to this incident, someone sprayed racist graffiti on a bathroom wall of a campus building.

A large group of people, including many local leaders got together Monday, March 7, to replace the burned flag with a larger Pride flag. The school has ordered both its campuses to fly the Pride flag for 30 days, according to the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

“We see you, we hear you, we are here to protect you,” Watsonville City Councilwoman Vanessa Quiroz-Carter told the newspaper. “This is my community, this is my district and this is one of the only places in the world that I feel safe."

The event comes just days after racist and antisemitic graffiti was discovered on the UC Santa Cruz campus on Saturday. Watsonville Police Department spokesperson Michelle Pulido told Patch she does not believe the two incidents are related.

"We do not believe the case is connected to the recent vandalisms reported at UCSC," Pulido said in an email. "We’re working closely with Cabrillo College to further the investigation and hopefully find the person behind this crime."

Read The Pajaronian's full report here.