By Lara Fominoff @fomsy1 on Twitter

U of L Pronghorns and friends stay up all night to guard Pride crosswalks

Jun 24, 2017 | 7:35 AM

LETHBRIDGE – It’s not the way many people would spend their Friday night and Saturday morning- guarding a couple of crosswalks in downtown Lethbridge.
 
But that’s exactly what a group of about a half dozen University of Lethbridge athletes and citizens did overnight (Jun 23-24) – just to make sure the newly re-painted Lethbridge Pride and Transgender crosswalks weren’t vandalized…. yet again.
 
On June 13, skid marks were found across both of the crosswalks, and then on June 15, black paint and piles of manure were spread onto them. City of Lethbridge crews had to sandblast the crosswalks, at a cost of about $1,000.
 
Lethbridge Police are actively investigating the June 15 episode as a hate-motivated crime.
 
Peter Millman says guarding the area before the parade today (June 24) was something they wanted to do, to make sure the celebrations weren’t marred by another vandalism incident.
 
“There’s been people popping in and out all night long. We’ve been up as high as 15 people, and some people getting off work at 3 am and joining in. So it’s been a great night.”
 
He says the area looks really nice again, and they wanted to make sure it stayed that way.
 
“It’s the last thing we wanted everyone to wake up to, is another disappointment on the day of Pride. If us sitting out here overnight is a bit of a deterrent, then it’s the least we can do I guess. Hopefully everybody will have a really happy Pride today.”
 
People have been dropping off coffee and goodies for them throughout the night, and even Lethbridge Police stopped by and told them if they had any issues, to contact them.
 
The Lethbridge Pride parade gets underway at City Hall at 11:30 this morning (June 24).