EXCLUSIVE | Amid outrage over Pride flag removal at Stonewall Monument, federal worker threatens reporter for photographing American flag-raising effort

"The fallout over the federal government's removal of the Pride flag at the Stonewall National Monument in Greenwich Village took a new twist Wednesday when a National Park Service worker threatened a reporter who photographed their attempt to raise an American flag on the site. Photo by Dean Moses The fallout over the federal government's removal of the Pride flag at the Stonewall National Monument in Greenwich Village took a new twist Wednesday when a National Park Service worker threatened a reporter who photographed their attempt to raise an American flag on the site. amNewYork visited the Stonewall monument at 11 a.m. on Feb. 11, just in time to see the worker who wore a green jacket with a National Park Service emblem on the sleeve walk over to the flag pole where the rainbow colors had flown above the monument just days earlier. The Trump administration had ordered the Pride flag removed from the Stonewall site."

"When the worker noticed the amNewYork reporter snapping images, they became enraged. Don't take my picture, she roared! I will bash your head. The worker then furled the American flag, placed it in a carrier bag, and got in the photographer's face. The worker had Old Glory in their possession and appeared to make an effort to raise it on the pole in place of the Pride flag. When the worker noticed the amNewYork reporter snapping images, they became enraged.Photo by Dean Moses Don't take my picture, she roared! I will bash your head. The worker then furled the American flag, placed it in a carrier bag, and got in the photographer's face."

Federal officials removed the Pride flag from the Stonewall National Monument after a directive from the Trump administration. A National Park Service worker wore a green jacket with a Park Service emblem and approached the monument's flagpole carrying an American flag. The worker attempted to raise the American flag where the rainbow flag had flown days earlier. When a reporter photographed the attempt, the worker became enraged, shouted threats, furled the flag, placed it in a carrier bag, and confronted the photographer before abandoning the replacement effort and telling a supervisor to have someone else do it.

Read at www.amny.com