'Vandals' Tear Down Buffalo, NY Flag Celebrating Somali Independence

Joseph Chalfant | July 03, 2026 6:00 PM

Hours after Buffalo officials raised a foreign flag over U.S. soil to commemorate Somali independence, an unknown individual jumped into action and removed it.

🚨#BREAKING: Somali flag stolen from Buffalo City Hall hours after it was raised for Somali Independence Day.
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) July 2, 2026

A report from Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan claims that “vandals broke the [flag pole] access panel, cut the cable and removed the Somali flag during the overnight hours.”

BREAKING: The Somali flag flying over Buffalo City Hall has been reportedly STOLEN just hours after it was raised.

Buffalo's Democrat Mayor Sean Ryan, claims that individuals cut the cable in the middle of the night and took the flag down. He then goes on a rant about… https://t.co/G6ok4GYVJc pic.twitter.com/CpA5Pdyewq
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 2, 2026

Ryan has set the Buffalo Police Department onto the case to find and prosecute the “vandals,” claiming that his city is “diverse” and “committed to honoring and celebrating the many cultures that make [Buffalo] stronger.”

If you believed that might include a celebration for American independence, you would be wildly incorrect. The Democrat mayor claimed that the city had canceled their plans for an Independence Day fireworks show out of safety concerns, claiming that the fireworks would have to be launched from the local river. A local reporter pressed Ryan as to whether or not the city was unable to accomplish such a herculean task, to which Ryan responded that he “didn’t want to do it on a barge in the river because we’re already doing it on August 2nd on a barge in the river.”