Long Beach Police Chief Accused of Removing Flag
Commissioner remains defi ant in response to calls for resignation
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
A police commissioner in
Long Beach, Long Island
is rejecting calls
for his resignation in
response to allegations that he ordered
a Pride Flag to be removed
from a local restaurant.
In a press conference on May
16, David Kilmnick, the CEO and
president of the LGBT Network,
and Brian Wells, the president of
the Long Beach Patrolmen’s Benevolent
Association, accused Police
Commissioner Ronald Walsh
of singling out the Pride Flag outside
of Riptides 11561, a popular
eatery on a boardwalk in Long Island.
Walsh allegedly cited a city
ordinance when he ordered the bar
to remove the fl ag — but allowed
other fl ags to remain.
When the restaurant’s co-owner,
Brian Braddish, questioned Walsh
about the decision, he allegedly
said he could remove any fl ag he
wanted, according to LGBT Network,
which also demanded the
resignation of Long Beach City
Council President John Bendo
for allegedly “condoning” Walsh’s
comments.
“I feel awful that it has gotten
to this level,” Walsh told Gay City
News in a phone call on May 17.
“But this is political season here
in Long Beach, and this is political
nonsense and silliness. It has
nothing to do with the message of
the LGBTQ community… I am 110
percent in full support of that community.
Period.”
Kilmnick said the restaurant’s
owners were told they could “fl y
the Rainbow Flag in the back of
the restaurant.”
“Basically, put the Pride Flag
in the closet or in the back of the
bus,” Kilmnick said.
In April, Walsh allegedly contacted
the restaurant’s lawyer to
demand that the Pride Flag be
taken down, and then he reiterated
that point in another conversation
about the banner. Braddish,
who serves a large LGBTQ client
base, said customers started asking
questions once he removed the
The city of Long Beach led a rally after offi cials allegedly called for removing a Pride Flag from a restaurant.
Pride Flag.
“He’s never asked me to take
down my POW Flag,” Braddish told
Gay City News. “He never asked me
to take down my American Flag,
only the Pride Flag. In today’s day
and age, people should be entitled
to fl y it.”
This incident comes as the LGBT
Network announces they are moving
Long Island Pride events out
of Long Beach due to anti-LGBTQ
bias from city offi cials.
“We left Long Beach because of
the discrimination we faced from
the current administration, and
this is yet another example of the
ugly hatred that John Bendo and
his administration continue to
hang on the good people and families
of Long Beach,” Kilmnick said
in a written statement. “The homophobia
must end immediately,
and so must the reign of those who
continue to act in such a manner.”
Offi cials in Long Beach contended
that the events unfolded differently.
The city has a rule against “fl ags
or signs, other than fl ags of nations,
to be fl own on public property
by private individuals,” offi cials
said in a statement. They further
explained that the city began
cracking down on this issue.
Offi cials said Walsh contacted
the lawyer for Riptides and asked
him to relocate two of his fl ags on
the property — the Pride Flag and
a POW/MIA — and that there was
no “mention made of the symbolism
of either fl ag.” Additionally,
Bendo said he was not there during
a conversation about the banner.
“I was not on the phone call, and
I knew nothing about this until a
bogus press release was issued,”
Bendo said in a written statement.
“It is appalling that the LGBT Network
FACEBOOK/RIPTIDES
PRIDE
is allowing its reputation to
be damaged in this way.”
In a phone call, Walsh agreed
and said the conversation about
the fl ag “absolutely and unequivocally
never took place.”
The city defended Walsh and
gave him a vote of confi dence in the
wake of the controversy.
“The city believes Police Commissioner
Walsh did everything he
should have done in a respectful
and courteous manner to protect
the legal interests of the City,” the
city said in a written statement.
“He exercised no personal or professional
judgments other than requesting
that the fl ags be moved a
few feet away because they were in
violation of the code.
In the end, however, the fl ag returned.
“They put the Pride Flag back in
the position where it belongs to be,”
Braddish said.
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