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A self-described “right-wing libertarian” was charged Wednesday in the damage of pride flags and signs that supported liberal causes at nearly 30 homes in St. Paul’s Highland Park and Macalester-Groveland neighborhoods. The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office charged George Thomas Floyd, 23, by summons with two counts of felony first-degree criminal damage to property, charges that also accuse him of breaking windows at two businesses and a school. He is out of custody and due in court Nov. 13. In late June, dozens of residents reported that yard signs, flags and flag poles had been damaged. They included pride flags, “No Kings” political signs, signs with anti-Trump or anti-DOGE messaging and signs in support of Black Lives Matter “or that promoted community inclusivity,” the criminal complaint says. In the days that followed the crime spree, police released Ring camera photos of a male suspect and said they believed he was responsible for the rash of cases between June 6 and 27. Prosecutors in early July charged Floyd, of St. Paul, with felony possession of burglary tools after a Ring camera at a home along Pinehurst Avenue allegedly caught him on June 6 trying to open a locked storm door with a knife to get at a sign that read: “We will not obey.” After Floyd was charged in the burglary-tools case, police said an investigation was ongoing into whether he was behind the vandalism. Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said Wednesday that St. Paul police spent more than 500 hours on the investigation to bring the charges. “When social or political views of any kind lead to violence or infringe on another’s property rights, it crosses the line and will not be tolerated in Ramsey County,” he said. “We will do everything in our power to hold the accused accountable and work with investigators to seek possible aggravating factors in the sentencing of this case to incorporate allegations of bias motivation.” ‘Trove of evidence’ on cellphone The criminal complaint gives the following information from the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office: St. Paul police pulled Floyd over for speeding July 2 and he was wearing a necklace and black T-shirt like the man involved in the June 6 incident at the Pinehurst home. Officers executed a search warrant at Floyd’s residence, just a few blocks away from the Pinehurst home, and recovered a cellphone and clothing matching what the suspect wore in the June 6 incident. Floyd declined to give a statement to police. A search of Floyd’s cellphone recovered a “trove of evidence” linking him to the damage, including photos that showed GPS coordinates of the addresses “where the destruction occurred,” the complaint states. A note on Floyd’s phone created on June 4 contained a list of 69 addresses, six of which later reported criminal damage to police. One of the addresses on Floyd’s list reported two separate incidents. ‘Got two more flags’ In later text messages with a friend, Floyd said he identifies himself as a “right wing libertarian,” and allegedly revealed that he attended the June 14 “No Kings” rally at the State Capitol with a “Trump” sign. On June 18, Floyd installed on his phone the Neighbors app, which is often used by Ring camera owners to share videos. He then messaged the friend with a link to Ring camera footage along with a message that read: “I found me.” An investigator reviewed the footage from the link and recognized it was the same Ring camera footage from the June 6 incident. Floyd sent another text message to the friend later that night that read: “I got two more flags last night too 🙂 its fun to break the flimsy metal poles people buy because they think it won’t break as easily as wooden ones.” Among the photos found on Floyd’s phone was of a “shredded” pride flag, one of at least a dozen such damaged flags at separate homes. At one home, the residents, “undeterred, repaired the pole, taped the flag back together, and rehung it,” the complaint says. Another photo was of a damaged yard sign that “appears to be political, in support of Black Lives Matter, and mentions love, women’s rights, science, and water,” the complaint says. Floyd and his friend exchanged several texts in the early morning hours of June 23, with some showing the damage he allegedly had just committed. Just before 3 a.m., Floyd sent a text that read: “Plus two windows smashed.” Broken windows Later that day, officers took reports of broken windows at two businesses: JS Bean Factory at 1518 Randolph Ave., where a pride flag was behind the window, and Half Price Books at 2041 Ford Parkway, where the window was in front of a display of merchandise and titles celebrating Pride month. Neither business had video showing who damaged the windows. Floyd “apparently returned to the scene of his crime to document his handiwork” and took a photo of the broken window at Half Price Books,” the complaint says. He then sent it to his friend, as well as one of a black Krylon spray-paint can sitting on the bar in his basement bedroom. Floyd later sent another friend a photo of himself wearing gray shoes, a black face mask, black shirt, blue jeans and a knife holster on his hip. The text message with the photo read, in part: “I’m out here fighting the good fight.” Around 1 a.m. the next day, Floyd took a photo of a different broken window at Half Price Books. On the windowpane the word “Groomer” was spray painted in black paint. Like the window shattered the day before, it was in front of the display of merchandise in honor of Pride month. St. Paul Academy and Summit School at 1712 Randolph Ave. reported windows with a Pride flag behind it had been broken overnight. The word “Groomers” was spray painted in black on the wall below the broken windows. School surveillance video showed a suspicious person riding a blue bike while wearing a black face mask and black clothing that matched what Floyd wore in the picture to his friend, according to the complaint. Police recovered the bike, face mask and gray shoes in the July 3 search of his home. On June 24, Floyd later posted to X (formerly Twitter): “The left has shown us that property damage is not punished by law enforcement. It’d be a shame if something happened to their rainbow cult paraphernalia.” GPS coordinates for Floyd’s phone also tied Floyd to the damage of a sign critical of DOGE at a home along Montrose Place, west of Cretin Avenue, just before 1 a.m. June 26. The homeowner reported that two signs in the area protesting the University of St. Thomas’ new basketball arena were not damaged, but a neighbor’s two signs were slashed: one that read “All are Welcome” and the other “We Believe in Science.”
