Heartland spokesperson Jim Lakely said the blackened remains of the American flag and yellow Gadsden flag, which features the phrase “Don’t Tread on Me,” were discovered Thursday morning on the damaged flagpole in Arlington Heights, Illinois.
“I always knew this day would come — the day some radical leftists decide to take their hatred of The Heartland Institute and its mission to advance freedom and turn it into ‘direct action,’” Mr. Lakely said Thursday in a websiteMr. Lakely said he reported the arson to police, but “the kind officer who came out said it’s unlikely the perps will be identified, and I knew that.” The building’s security cameras point at the doors, not the flagpole.
More than 80 pro-life offices and pregnancy centers have been attacked since the May 2022 leak of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. The radical pro-choice group Jane’s Revenge has taken credit for some of the attacks.has also listed attacks on 318 Catholic churches ranging from graffiti to arson since May 2020, the outbreak of mass Black Lives Matter protests and rioting following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.