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'Ethnic Intimidation': Native American Flags Stolen From Veteran's Front Porch On July 4

NORTHGLENN, Colo. (CBS4)- A Northglenn man said he is the victim of ethnic intimidation. His house was targeted on July 4th and some symbols of his culture were stolen.

It's hard to be more American than Gerald Montour.

Gerald Montour
(credit: Gerald Montour)

"I'm Diné, which is the proper terminology for Navajo," he says. "My dad served in WWII, my grandfather served in WWI, my brothers and I during the Vietnam Conflict. My nephew was in Desert Storm."

Gerald Montour
(credit: Gerald Montour)

There's nothing else he would rather be, even though sometimes it's tough for him, "I'm proud to be an American, but at the same time I'm embarrassed to be an American because I have to live through these atrocities."

Native American flags stolen
(credit: Gerald Montour)

He says the latest example of disrespect against his culture happened on the Fourth of July. He and his wife went on a road trip to the mountains, but when they got back they made a disturbing discovery.

STOLEN FLAGS 6PKG.transfer_frame_298
(credit: CBS)

"We had our tribal flags out here. We had the Diné Nation flag. We also had the Cheyenne River Lakota flag," Gerald explains. "We were parking our trailer; I was in the middle of the street. My wife got out to move her car because she parks in the back and that's when she came up ad she said, 'Our flags are gone.' I immediately went to our Ring video. The video shows they drove right up to or house. He got out of his truck he marched right up to our driveway to the flags, took our flags out of the flag stand and then used the flag pole to smack our screen door with the flag poles then he threw them in the truck got to the street and then started taunting us."

STOLEN FLAGS 6PKG.transfer_frame_1821
(credit: Gerald Montour)

He filed a police report and he says he hopes Northglenn police will find whoever took his flag and scratched his screen door, but more so he wants the man who did this charged with a hate crime.

Native American flags stolen
(credit: Gerald Montour)

"This is ethnic intimidation," says Gerald.

He says those flags were given to him by his people and can't be replaced easily, and if they are found he doesn't want them back because in his culture it is believed they will bring with them the negative energy attached to racism.

He does want to be financially compensated, and he wants to use this security camera video to show the world what hate looks like.

STOLEN FLAGS 6PKG.transfer_frame_1928
(credit: Gerald Montour)

"To violate me as a Native American, to violate my people and my wife is wrong. It has now put us in a situation where we live on edge," Gerald says.

Northglenn police have not made any arrests in this case yet.

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