A man was arrested last week after reportedly harassing customers and staff at a Vienna pub over its Pride Month displays.
On Friday (June 28) night, a man walked off the street and began accosting patrons in Hawk & Griffin’s outdoor beer garden “because of our flags displayed for pride month,” the pub’s owners said the following day in a Facebook post.
“He then spit on our windows and came inside to confront our staff and patrons with homophobic rants,” the post says. “Our manager and staff handled the situation very professionally and police were called to investigate.”
Hawk & Griffin says the man was later arrested “a couple of blocks away.”
The Vienna Police Department says its officers responded to Hawk & Griffin around 9:28 on Friday after getting “reports of an intoxicated individual threatening customers.” The man was gone by the time officers arrived, but they “promptly” found him nearby.
“Subsequently, the individual was arrested and charged with several offenses, including Drunk in Public, providing false identification to a police officer, assault on a police officer, and serving an outstanding warrant from another jurisdiction,” the VPD said. “The individual is currently being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center without bond.”
The alleged assault on an officer occurred during the arrest, and the outstanding warrant stemmed from “an incident in Alexandria City,” VPD Public Information Officer Juan Vazquez told FFXnow.
Hawk & Griffin thanked the police department for its “quick response.” Comments on the post, including a couple from other local businesses, expressed support for the pub and disappointment that its staff had to deal with “such abhorrent behavior,” as one person phrased it.
“We are and will continue to be community focused and we will never stop working to create and maintain a place of inclusion and tolerance,” Hawk & Griffin’s ownership said.
An employee told FFXnow that they had no additional comment beyond what was shared on social media. However, she said the Pride flags, which were placed in flower boxes, and a rainbow-colored heart on the pub’s front door will be left up, even though Pride Month is now over.
Opened in June 2021 at 435 Maple Avenue West, Hawk & Griffin was started by architect Thomas Kyllo with the goal of giving the Town of Vienna a hangout spot in the tradition of a British pub. The menu features comfort food, such as fish and chips, cottage pie, wings and chicken masala.
Earlier in June, the pub celebrated Pride Month with a drag show advertised on its events calendar as a first for Vienna.
Amid persistent — albeit potentially weakening — legislative attacks on LGBTQ rights, rainbow flags, drag brunches and other celebratory symbols or events have become targets of vandalism and harassment, including in Northern Virginia.
Last year, a Falls Church High School student stole and burned a Pride flag, and earlier this year, two men were arrested for repeatedly stealing flags from the home of an Arlington couple. Rainbow crosswalks painted in Alexandria ahead of this year’s Pride Month prompted some transphobic hand-wringing.
Meanwhile, down in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis’s administration barred bridges from using lighting schemes other than red, white and blue this summer — a move apparently intended to prevent Pride Month and Juneteenth displays, though it also limited ones supporting local sports teams.
Correction: This story initially said that the Pride flags at Hawk & Griffin appeared to have been removed.
