NYPD Investigating Defamation Of Megan Rapinoe Posters As Possible Hate Crime

World Cup festivities in New York City have taken a darker turn after NYPD discovered defamed posters of Women’s National Team star, Megan Rapinoe.

The vandalism, discovered on Monday, was first seen in the Bryant Park subway station in Manhattan with slurs aimed at Megan Rapinoe. Clean-up crews have since cleaned the defamed posters of the out lesbian soccer star and are now investigating the defamation as a possible hate crime.

This was confirmed on Thursday when NYPD detective Sophia Mason revealed the “Hate Crimes Task Force was notified and the incident is being investigated.”

Rapinoe has been a lightning rod of attention lately, saying that she would not visit the White House if the U.S. team won and hoped the rest of the team would follow suit. She was also one of the three featured players during a city hall rally in New York City at the end of Wednesday’s parade celebrating the team’s win.

And it’s also the latest in a wave of acts considered hate crimes in New York City that has risen since the beginning of 2019. The NYPD revealed online that hate crimes had risen 64 percent since the start of the year, with 18 crimes motivated by sexual orientation. The most recent incident occurred when a man was arrested for burning gay pride flags outside a gay bar in Harlem.